Legacies of Beacon
by bookwyrm321
Summary: The daughters of Team RWBY have enrolled at Beacon, dreaming of becoming famous Huntresses like their parents. They'll face monsters, criminals, and the scariest of all: homework! But there's nothing this team can't accomplish, and they won't have to do it alone, either. Rated T for violence, mild language, and alcohol.
1. Beacon Beginnings

**I know this isn't the first next-gen RWBY fic to exist, but this idea's been kicking around in my head for a while, so I decided to put it out there. I hope you enjoy! This fic will be canon-compliant as of Volume 5, but I will continue it even if events of Volume 6 change things.**

 **I own nothing you recognize (i. e., Team RWBY, Beacon Academy, etc.).**

 **Beacon Beginnings**

Indigo Amitola-Rose paused to take in her room one last time. Her bed was made, her floor was clean, her books were stacked neatly on the shelf, and her Huntsman and Grimm figurines were placed in careful rows on her desk. There were empty spaces on both the bookshelf and the desk, though—Indie was taking several of her books and figurines with her.

She wouldn't be living here full-time anymore. Boarding school for the next four years, and when she graduated, she'd be grown up, an adult making her living as a Huntress. But she wanted everything to be perfect for when she was visiting—and really, the school wasn't _that_ far away.

Indie slowly walked through the house, taking in the only home she could remember one more time. Dining room, kitchen, living room…

She stopped in front of the full-length mirror in the hallway to take stock of her appearance before leaving. Dark blue hair—her namesake—bluntly cut to her chin with ragged edges? Check. Turquoise eyes that sparkled with quiet humor? Check. Long hooded cape in the same color as her hair? Check. Long-sleeved shirt in dark navy with red and gold detailing on the cuffs and hem? Check. Two belts, worn loose around her waist so that they formed an X underneath her belly button? Check. Navy skinny jeans with a rose silhouetted against a triangle painted on the pocket? Check. Low-heeled navy ankle boots? Check. She stepped back, satisfied, and turned around.

Her parents stood there, waiting. Mama Ruby held a fat duffel bag and had a smile on her face. She was wearing her combat outfit for the occasion, and had her weapon, Crescent Rose, in its holster on her back. Mama Ilia was dressed simply, in a white blouse and dark jeans, although her sword was tucked into its holster on her hip. She held a quiver full of arrows in one hand, and a bow—Indie's beloved Crescent Ranger—in the other.

Ruby spoke quietly. "Are you ready for your first day at Beacon?"

xxxxx

Aurum Belladonna had _not_ been happy at having to surrender her weapons for the trip. Seriously, they were going to a combat school! _Everybody_ had weapons except her. Apparently, she wasn't to be trusted with her golden tessen fans, Aurora Blaze, until the bullhead was on the ground.

She glared resentfully at her mom, who was sitting next to her. Blake was absorbed in a book, but Aurum knew full well that that didn't mean she was in the clear—Mom was freakishly good at multitasking.

Aurum got up and started pacing restlessly.

It had never made sense to her that she and her mom could be so different when they looked so much alike. Both of them had long black hair, black cat ears, and dark golden eyes. They even had a similar fashion sense, although Aurum preferred a black and gold color scheme over Blake's black and white. Right now, she was wearing a gold ribbon in her hair, positioned right behind her cat ears as though to draw attention to them. Her cropped black tank top had gold trim and a belladonna lily emblazoned in gold on the back; it also exposed her midriff and showed off her muscles. Fingerless black gloves reached her elbows and had gold bands around the wrists. She wore a tutu-style gold skirt over black leggings, and black ankle boots with gold buckles rounded out her combat outfit.

"Aurum!" Blake ordered sharply. "Sit down, now!"

Aurum rolled her eyes as she headed for her seat. She stuck her tongue out at Aqua as she passed. Her twin brother didn't even notice; he was holding a book in front of his face and was oblivious to everything else. She sighed. _This is gonna be a long ride…_

xxxxx

Skye Schnee looked out the window of her family's private airship at the ocean far below, as she contemplated the next four years of her life. She'd never spent more than a day or two away from her mom before—how was she going to manage being half a world away, not seeing each other for weeks at a time? Still, she was seventeen; it had to happen sometime. And it wasn't like she'd be alone among the other students; she'd have her team, too.

She didn't allow her inner turmoil to show on her face. Weiss would undoubtedly notice and ask her about it. Skye had learned that the hard way years ago, and she didn't want Mom to start thinking that it would be better to keep her little girl close to home at Atlas Academy instead of Beacon.

On the outside, Skye looked every bit the heiress that she was. She had her mom's white hair, but it was interspersed with strands of light blue, and she kept the mass of hair braided and coiled around her head like a crown. Her eyes were the same shade of pale blue as her mother's, and her outfit was just as elegant: a light blue sleeveless dress with a high-low skirt; it fell to her knees in the back but only to mid-thigh in the front. For practicality's sake, she wore a pair of shorts in the same color underneath it. The rest of her outfit was silver: ballet-flat-style shoes and simple scarf worn as a belt. Sapphire earrings and a necklace with a twelve-pointed snowflake pendant were her only jewelry. The scarf-belt also acted as a holster for Gladiola, her multi-action Dust saber.

She turned back to the window, forcing herself to take in the scenery. They hadn't even made it to Beacon yet; she had no reason to be homesick already.

xxxxx

Jade Xiao Long hopped off the back of the motorcycle and carefully removed her helmet. Popping open the under-seat compartment, she took out the backpack that was inside, replaced it with the helmet, and pressed it closed. Before she could turn around, a hand had lifted the pack from her arm. She turned and smiled at her mom.

"Let's go," Mom told her.

Jade followed her down the academy's wide pathways. Several students were relaxing in the courtyard; school hours were over, and it was a nice day. As they passed, almost every student stopped to stare. Jade wasn't surprised. Even at forty years old and with a metal arm, Yang Xiao Long was _hot_ , and she knew it.

Jade _was_ surprised to see that a few of them were staring at her instead. She knew she looked enough like her mom to be considered gorgeous, but she lacked the confidence that Yang exuded. She self-consciously ran a hand through her leaf-green hair; usually she tied her shoulder-length locks into a short ponytail, but today she hadn't bothered. Her amethyst-colored eyes were serious behind black-framed glasses. Her combat outfit was simple: a violet jacket over a tank top and shorts that were the same color as her hair. A black belt-purse hung around her waist, with a dragon coiled into the shape of a heart painted on the flap. Her two green tonfa sticks, Lu Xise, hung from the back of the belt. Her shoes were green high-top sneakers with violet laces.

Lost in thought, Jade followed her mom as they made their way toward the front door of the school. They'd made it halfway across the courtyard when a voice shouted, "Yang! Jade!"

Yang spun around, searching for the source of the voice. When she found it, she grinned and waved. "Sun!"

The blond monkey Faunus crossed the yard to join them. Yang hugged him. "I thought we'd be the first ones here! You and Blake beat us?"

Sun grinned and shook his head. "Nah, I'm the only one here so far. You know how they bring in guest speakers for the older students while the first years go through initiation? Well, guess who they asked this year?" He made a dorky face and jabbed a thumb at himself. "Blake should be getting here with Aurum and Aqua in…" He pulled out his scroll and checked the time. "…About twenty minutes."

Yang stared at him. " _Aqua_ is enrolling at Beacon?"

"No, just Aurum. But we're staying in Vale for a few days, so Blake didn't think leaving him home alone was a great idea."

"You left Blake at home… with Aurum… to get ready to leave for Beacon?" Yang shook her head. "She's gonna kill you when she gets here."

"Meh, she knew what she was getting into…"

Jade started tuning out their conversation. She looked around the campus with new eyes; she'd been here before, of course, but only ever as a tagalong when Mom was a guest speaker. Jade had never attended an actual school in her life. Yang had refused to give up her livelihood as a Huntress after her daughter was born, and had instead adjusted her lifestyle to accommodate a child, only accepting low-risk missions and sometimes leaving Jade with Ruby and Ilia for a few days. As Jade had gotten older, she had usually stayed with Mom on missions, and as a result, had learned combat skills from an early age.

The teenage girl was shaken out of her thoughts by the low roar of an approaching bullhead. It also distracted Yang from her conversation with Sun.

"Finally! I thought they'd never get here," Yang declared dramatically. Jade snorted, but then, Yang had never been known for her patience.

The bullhead touched down, and a split second later, a blur of black and gold practically teleported over to them. It settled into a girl Jade's age hanging off of Sun. "Daddy! Did'ja miss me?!"

"Aurum!" an exasperated voice shouted. "You're getting a little old to be such a daddy's girl." Blake approached towing Aqua by the arm. He had refused to put down his book.

Yang snorted, eyeing Aurum dangling off the ground. "Don't listen to her, Aurum. You're _never_ too old to be a daddy's girl."

Blake rolled her eyes at her friend. " _Not_ helping, Yang." She was hiding a smile as she spoke, though, and immediately hugged the blonde woman tightly.

"Hey… no hug for me?" Sun protested. Blake's next eye roll was directed at him.

"You left home to speak here at Beacon a week ago. _Less_ than a week ago. I haven't seen Yang in months—and do I need to remind you that I've known her longer?"

"Also, you have a child hanging off you," Yang pointed out.

Sun laughed as he carefully let Aurum tumble to the ground. She landed gracefully on her feet and immediately vanished, only to reappear next to Blake.

"Mom, I can't start at a combat school without a weapon. Give me back Aurora Blaze," Aurum insisted.

Blake sighed. "I suppose you're right." She reached into her bag and pulled out the folded tessen, handing them to Aurum with the warning, "Don't hit your brother."

The teenage cat girl attached the weapons to her gloves and disappeared into shadow again. Her wild spins were interrupted as Yang reached out, seemingly at random, and ended up with the girl's arm in her hand. Aurum stared at her aunt, wide-eyed. "You can still do that?"

"Please," Yang scoffed. "Your semblance is just like Ruby's, only with shadows instead of rose petals—and I've been halting _her_ charges since I was six."

As though saying her name had summoned her, Yang's sister appeared behind her in a burst of red and black. Though she was in her late thirties, her face still held the childish enthusiasm she was known for.

"I heard that, Yang," Ruby declared.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Yang taunted, grinning.

Ruby tackled her older sister in a hug without warning. Yang laughed cheerfully.

Blake looked around. "Where's the rest of your family?"

Ruby pointed over toward the ground shuttle, where Ilia and Indigo could be seen approaching at a more dignified pace. Indie waved to her cousins. Aurum and Jade waved back; Aqua was still engrossed in the book he was reading.

"So we're only waiting on Weiss and Skye now!" Ruby was saying as her wife and daughter joined them.

"Are you sure about that?" Blake asked. She pointed at the horizon where an airship was just coming into view. The aircraft was much quieter than a bullhead, which explained why nobody else had heard it, and from the shape, it was clearly privately owned and not for commercial use. As it drew closer, they could all make out the snowflake emblem on the side.

As they waited, Indie turned to ask Jade, "Have you read anything good lately?"

Jade smiled slightly. "You know I like literature more than textbooks. I'm not a nerd like you. I've been looking out for _Heroes of the Past_ , though; last time I was in a bookstore, that's what they recommended, but they didn't have it in stock."

"I bet Skye knows someplace you could get a copy," Aurum volunteered. "Let's ask her!"

"Oh, no. Give them time to breathe first." As the craft landed, Blake reached out and pinched Aurum's left ear in a death grip, to keep the excitable teenager from rushing the last members to join their party.

"Mom, quit yoinking my ear!" Aurum protested. Blake paid her no attention until Weiss and Skye were only fifteen feet away, then released her hold. Aurum immediately reached up, patting her head to make sure her bow hadn't been dislodged.

"Team RWBY group hug!" shouted Ruby. Blake walked over to join her best friends. The four of them hadn't been all together for almost a year. Sun and Ilia subtly made the five teenagers take a few steps back as Team RWBY flung their arms around each other. They stood like that for more than a minute, until the gongs of the clock tower made Yang look up in a panic.

"It's five o'clock already?! Jade and I have a meeting with the headmistress at five fifteen!" Yang quickly extricated herself from her friends. "Jade, we have to go _now_. Hurry; your cousins will still be here later."

Jade walked behind her mom as they made for the main office. This was it: the beginning of a new adventure.

 **My first fic in a new fandom! What do you think so far? Some things I'll explain in the next chapter, but first, here's some notes on this one:**

 **When coming up with a name for Yang's daughter, I first considered** _ **yu**_ **, the Chinese word for jade, but decided that even Yang wouldn't appreciate puns enough to address her daughter as "Hey, you." I spent a lot of time on Google Translate coming up with names to use in this fic. The name of Jade's weapon, Lu Xise, is what came up when I plugged in the words "green purple."**

 **Skye, Jade, and Indigo are all fairly self-explanatory when it comes to the RWBY color naming tradition. However, I'm not sure how many people know that** _ **aurum**_ **is the Latin word for gold. (This is why the chemical symbol for gold is "Au" on the periodic table. Fun fact of the day, people; impress your friends.) My characters Aurum and Aqua were named after their eye color instead of their hair color since they're twins and that's their only distinguishing feature.**

 **If you've read some of my other fics and you think Indie's description sounds familiar, you win a cookie! (Not really.) I based her appearance off Zarya Moonwolf of** _ **Mysticons**_ **. It wasn't deliberate, and when I realized it, I tried to swap out her weapon for something else. It didn't work, and then I came up with the name "Crescent Ranger" for the bow, so I decided I might as well go the whole nine yards and give credit where it's due.**

 **Rule number one: No hating on my ships. Rule number two: Just kidding! There's only one rule.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy this new adventure!**


	2. First Impressions

**I'm glad people are enjoying this so far! I've already gotten more follows than I ever have before, but I guess that's the difference in fandom sizes. Thanks for your support!**

 **Just for the record, this fic will most likely not have regular updates. I really don't think I could manage to post a new chapter, say, every Wednesday. I will, however, try to update at least once every two weeks.**

 **First Impressions**

Jade looked around the office as her mom chatted with the headmistress. It was extremely generic—a desk, a few chairs, and bookshelves. The only personal touch was a photo of four teenagers, one of whom was recognizable as the older woman sitting behind the desk. Jade assumed it was her team from when she was a student.

Even the nameplate on the desk was bland. It was a brass plate engraved with the words "Glynda Goodwitch—Headmistress" and nothing else. Jade idly wondered if that was on purpose or if the woman simply didn't care. She'd been the headmistress for twenty years, ever since the school had been rebuilt, so it wasn't that she hadn't had the time…

"Miss Xiao Long!"

Jade jumped to her feet. "Yes sir! I mean… ma'am! Uhm… Professor Goodwitch?"

She couldn't be sure, but it looked like the woman was fighting a smile. "In the future, 'Headmistress' or 'ma'am' will suffice. Now… you are aware that very few students apply to higher combat academies without first having attended a primary combat school?"

Jade nodded; she'd heard all this from Mom when she'd first announced her intention to study at Beacon.

"In that situation, those students are subjected to the same exams that you took two months ago. Beacon, Atlas, Haven, and Shade Academies all use the same basic format, although the specifics vary from school to school. Based on their test scores, fully half of those students are not accepted to the school of their choice. Of those that are, two out of three are placed on probation for varying amounts of time, until improvements are made. You, however…"

She paused and took a long, measured look at Jade. The green-haired teenager held her gaze. Up close, she could see that the headmistress's hair was more gray than its original platinum blonde, but her green eyes were piercing behind her wire-rimmed glasses. "Your combat scores were… exceptional. And while your academic scores were nothing exemplary, they were still well above average. Certainly higher than I've come to expect from a prospective student who has never attended any sort of school before, either combat or general."

Jade maintained the eye contact as she replied, "Just because I didn't attend school doesn't mean I didn't learn, ma'am. Mom made sure I took my education seriously."

"I see. In that case, I see no reason to place you on probation for any length of time. As of this moment, you are officially a student of Beacon Academy. School hours are from nine until three each weekday. Breakfast is served in the cafeteria every morning from seven until eight forty-five, and dinner from four-thirty until seven-thirty in the evening. You are permitted to bring food with you to class, or to purchase it in the café inside the academics building between classes. Uniforms are required during school hours, with the single exception of combat class; however, you may add small accessories to your uniform if you like. You may wear your own clothing outside of school hours and on weekends. The full list of school rules and regulations can be found inside the student handbook you received upon applying. Now… You will want to get to the main auditorium. The welcoming speech begins in twenty minutes." Headmistress Goodwitch paused for a moment, then added, "Welcome to Beacon, Jade Xiao Long."

xxxxx

Skye found a place in the auditorium, close to the stage but not in the very first row. She was determined to be a perfectly average student. After trying to avoid the spotlight her entire life, mediocrity was something to strive for.

The girl next to her was playing a game on her scroll. Skye discreetly sized her up, wondering if the girl might end up on her team. She was about Skye's own age, if she was here, and clearly some kind of lizard Faunus; green scales were visible against her dark skin that matched the color of her boyishly short hair. She wore a sleeveless camo-pattern tunic in green and brown with a gray belt, and black leggings. Sturdy-looking green boots with gray trim were on her feet. There was a vertical scar about two inches long on her left bicep. She carried no visible weapons, but the thick bracelets on her wrists were clearly more than just accessories. Skye was sure the girl would have disappeared in a forested area.

The room quieted down as the headmistress entered and took the stage. She stepped up to the microphone and didn't waste any time by making small talk. "Welcome to Beacon Academy, everybody. You may be here for your own personal reasons, but as of this moment, it no longer matters what specific reason you had for enrolling. You are all here to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. Make no mistake, you will work hard. As you are aware, tomorrow you will be sorted into teams. Until then, please help yourselves to the buffet, and get a good night's sleep. Mattresses and sleeping bags have been set up in the ballroom across the hall."

As soon as the severe blonde woman left the stage, the girl to Skye's right turned and looked directly at her with bright violet eyes. "Okay. Why were you staring at me like that?"

Skye felt herself blushing. "I… I was… scouting out… potential teammates…"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "You weren't staring at my scales?"

Now Skye was sure that her face was the color of Aunt Ruby's hood. "I… I noticed them, but… I didn't mean to… stare…"

The girl studied her for another minute, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I have a tendency to jump to conclusions. My scales are pretty unusual, so I got picked on a lot when I was a kid." Sticking out a hand, she added, "I'm Esmeralda Montanya, by the way."

"I'm Skye." She was careful not to give her last name. "Where are you from?"

"My parents work for the Schnee Dust Company. The Mistral office. Mom's a supervisor, and Dad's a laborer. I'm so happy the corporation cleaned up its practices and decided to partner with the White Fang; it's created so many more opportunities for Faunus employees. We never would have been able to afford Beacon's tuition otherwise." Esmeralda looked around. "Hey, let's get some food before it's all gone. How about you—where are you from?"

They started walking toward the food table as Skye noticed that Esmeralda had a symbol of a jagged mountain peak surrounded by clouds on her belt. "I'm from Atlas. My mom's a little… overprotective… so this is completely new for me. She didn't argue with me when I said I wanted to go to Beacon, though; she gets that I can't spend my whole life in a little bubble." That was the truth, technically, even if she was leaving out details, like, say, the fact that Esmeralda's parents worked for Skye's mom. She might have a new friend in the making, and she didn't want to bring up anything that might make things awkward.

xxxxx

Indie wandered into the main hallway after the other first-years had settled into groups. She had seen the school's roster of graduates on her way in, and wanted a closer look at it. The way it worked was simple: teams were sorted by graduating year, and then listed alphabetically within the year. Team names were listed along with the symbol that corresponded to each letter.

She scanned the walls, looking for a specific year. Once she found the approximate area, she let her eyes wander until her gaze settled onto a row that stuck out unevenly from the rest. It had five letters and symbols instead of four: two nesting crescents with the letter J, a lightning bolt bisecting a hammer with the letter N, a triangle that had a beam emanating from the side with the letter I, a spear and shield with the letter P, and a lotus flower with the letter R. Team JNIPR.

Indie knew the story, of course. Pyrrha Nikos had lost her life in the fall of Beacon twenty-three years ago. Team RWBY had scattered, with Weiss flying back to Atlas at her father's insistence, Blake returning to her old home in Menagerie, and Yang staying on Patch to recover from the battle. Pyrrha's teammates had joined Ruby on a quest for answers that led them across Sanus and Anima. In Menagerie, Blake had convinced Ilia to turn her back on the corrupt White Fang and help protect Haven Academy from meeting the same fate as Beacon. That had been how her parents had met.

After the battle for Haven, Ilia had expressed her desire to train as a Huntress. The remaining members of then-Team JNPR had immediately offered to let her join them, saying that Pyrrha would have wanted it that way.

After Beacon was rebuilt, the students who wanted to continue their training reenrolled. Team RWBY and Team JNIPR remained close for the rest of their time at Beacon. Ruby had offered to show Ilia around the school; Ilia, despite her reservations about humans, had accepted. It wasn't love at first sight, they liked to say, but it was close. Ruby had taken a wrong turn in the new part of the school one day, and the pair had gotten locked in an unused classroom. When Yang had broken down the door an hour later looking for her sister, the two had been making out in a corner.

Her mind had wandered, but Indie pulled herself back to the present. Her attention fell on the team listed right below JNIPR: a rose with the letter R, a twelve-pointed snowflake with the letter W, a belladonna lily with the letter B, and a flaming heart with the letter Y. RWBY.

She reached out and traced the rose and the triangle. This was her legacy.

It slowly dawned on Indie that she'd been gone an awfully long time for someone who was just supposed to be using the bathroom. Then again, she hadn't been sitting with anybody. The first-year class looked to be at least a dozen people, so her absence probably wouldn't be noticed.

Indie silently vowed to herself as she walked back into the ballroom that she wouldn't let her moms down. This was why she'd wanted to be a Huntress, why she'd enrolled at Beacon. She'd live up to their legacy, no matter what it took. She'd make her parents proud.

xxxxx

Aurum had scarfed down four sandwiches before she paused to breathe. The food was delicious, and she hoped it would stay that way and that this wasn't just a special treat they did for the new students. She was still hungry, though; she burned a lot of calories using her semblance. The buffet table was pretty much deserted. She eyed a large apple pastry. Okay, that did it. She went for it.

She was so focused on the food that she didn't see the person backing up until he bumped into her. Yelping, she went down in a heap, barely managing to protect her pastry. A small, soft lump hit her in the arm a moment later.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry! Totally my fault; I wasn't looking where I was going. Hey, dude, I told you playing ball inside was a bad idea!" The last sentence was directed at someone across the room, judging by the volume.

Aurum looked up at the guy standing there, holding out his hand, offering to help her up. Glaring at him, she ignored the hand and got up on her own. He was pretty cute, with artfully messy silver-gray hair and furry wolf ears, and lime green eyes. He wore a short-sleeved button-down shirt in charcoal gray and baggy ripped jeans in the same color. His shoes were black and white sneakers, and his pale complexion only added to the monochrome effect. The only bright color on him was the emblem on his shirt pocket—the profile of a howling wolf, in the same color as his eyes. But being cute did _not_ excuse the fact that he'd just knocked her over and risked ruining her dessert.

The guy leaned over and picked up the folded socks that he and his friend had been using as a ball. "Sorry again about knocking you over. I'm Kage Okami. You are…?"

Aurum kept glaring. "Not interested." Ignoring his protests that he hadn't been trying to hit on her, she stalked back to where she'd been sitting and proceeded to eat her pastry, pointedly ignoring him. After she'd finished, she went into the girls' bathroom to change into pajamas—a black t-shirt with a gold kitten face on it, and purple sweatpants. Indie was also in the bathroom, having already changed into a light blue sleeveless hoodie and navy leggings. Her headphones were on, meaning she didn't feel like talking, but she waved and smiled at Aurum in the mirror.

Sleeping bags and mattresses had been passed around for those who wanted them. Aurum took a mattress, but decided the blanket in her backpack would be enough. She wanted to get a good night's sleep for initiation tomorrow. Mom had told her what she was in for…

She didn't remember closing her eyes, but the next thing she knew, light was streaming through the windows. She changed into her combat outfit, brushed her teeth, and went through the breakfast line, all in a daze. At the last minute she decided to put on some makeup. She didn't wear it all the time, but for situations like this, it was something like armor. Today was going to be a long, intense day. First-years had to report to the combat arena by nine o'clock sharp—she didn't want to be late.

Once assembled, Headmistress Goodwitch directed them out to Beacon Cliff and had them all stand on platforms. Two other staff members were there as well. "When you land in the Emerald Forest, you will head toward the ruins at the northern border. There are numerous Grimm in this forest that will not hesitate to attack you. I will be very disappointed if any of you get yourselves killed. These professors and I will be monitoring your progress from here. Utilize your landing strategy to the best of your ability, and the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner. Each pair will retrieve one artifact from the ruins. Good luck."

With that, she flicked an icon on her scroll and the girl next to Aurum went flying. The young cat Faunus released Aurora Blaze into their fan forms, and prepared to be launched…

 **A cliffhanger! (Literally.) Normally, I hate them, but I couldn't find a better place to end this chapter, since the next one's pretty long. It's pretty much done now; it just needs editing, so I'll probably have it up within a week. I promise I won't cliffhanger you to death. (You know, like they did in Volume 5. Did that make anyone else want to scream and hurl their computer out the nearest window? I hope they don't do that to us again in Volume 6.)**

 **I had to make up a symbol for Ilia, since I haven't seen her wearing one in any of her scenes and the wiki article doesn't mention one either. The one I chose is based on the prism from Pink Floyd's** _ **Dark Side of the Moon**_ **album.**

 **Some explanations… As I said earlier, I'm spending a lot of time on Google Translate coming up with names for characters. Esmeralda Montanya is "emerald mountain" in Spanish (though I did change the spelling of her last name). The phrase came from a poem I wrote in third grade, but I'll spare you the torture of reading my eight-year-old self's awful poetry. Kage Okami is "shadow wolf" in Japanese.**

 **I know that there's a few differences between what I've written here and the actual show. Most of those are due to the fact that Goodwitch is in charge now, instead of Ozpin. They have slightly different ways of running the school (for example, Goodwitch has a much stricter uniform policy), but the overall themes will be the same as the ones we're all familiar with. The school itself is also somewhat different, since it was destroyed in Volume 3 and subsequently rebuilt.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy this story!**


	3. First Test

**Ughh… work sucks. Seriously, adulting is the worst. Anyway, here's this. I hope you enjoy my version of Beacon's initiation!**

 **I don't own RWBY!**

 **First Test**

As soon as the platform launched her, Aurum jammed the bases of her tessen together, creating a round, flat surface eighteen inches in diameter. She maneuvered it toward her feet as she tumbled through space, then locked the heels of her boots into the dents. When she heard the magnetic click that meant she was locked in place, she straightened. Now she was soaring through the empty air on her own personal hoverboard.

She idly wondered what she should call this mode of transportation. "Skysurfing" was way too obvious…

The Nevermore came out of nowhere. Aurum saw it coming at the last minute and managed to swerve. The creature missed her by inches, but she'd lost most of her momentum. Realizing that her time on the hoverboard was over for now, Aurum twisted her bracelets in order to release the magnetic link, then reached down and took Aurora Blaze by the base. It separated in her hands, reverting to its usual form of two extended fans. She folded the two halves into their pistol forms and began firing rounds at the ground to slow her fall. When she was about fifteen feet off the ground, she bent forward and curled into a ball, tucking and rolling to minimize impact.

Even with her precautions and her aura, she still hit the ground hard enough to knock her wind out. After a minute, she stood. _Let's see… the sun is over there, so north… is that way._

Aurum smiled and converted the two halves of Aurora Blaze back into their fan forms before setting off into the trees…

xxxxx

A series of glyphs shimmered into being as Skye gently lowered herself to ground level. She continued summoning them until she was a foot off the ground, then let herself drop gracefully to the forest floor.

She took a few moments to get her bearings before moving on. The cliff wall was at her back somewhere, and she'd gotten a good view of the temple midflight. The only thing she had to do was keep moving forward and she'd get there in no time.

A low growl interrupted her thoughts. Turning toward the sound, she saw a Beowolf eyeing her. It was small as far as Grimm went, only about her own height, but that was still big enough to swat her across the forest like a tennis ball.

Skye smiled; finally, a real fight against a real Grimm. Turning Gladiola so that the blade faced the monster, she waited. When it charged, she quickly summoned a speed glyph and dodged out of its way. Before the beast could recover from the surprise, she used another speed glyph—this time heading straight towards it. The Beowolf was sliced in half before it had time to blink.

 _That wasn't so hard… but I can't get too cocky. That was a really small Grimm, and I'm only a first-year—first_ _ **day**_ _—Huntress!_

Skye looked around for the tree she'd noticed earlier, the one with the twisty trunk. She mentally aligned it with her path, then turned in the direction she needed to travel. Before taking a step, she flicked the chamber on the flower-shaped hilt of her saber without looking at it, letting fate decide what she'd do next. When the clicking stopped, she looked down at it and smiled again. The chamber had landed on her favorite element: fire.

 _A good sign…_

xxxxx

Propelling herself forward by firing rounds from Lu Xise and trying not to look down, Jade searched the trees ahead for a likely-looking branch. _There… that one's perfect!_

She fired again, this time toward the side instead of behind her. The round hadn't even detonated when she shifted her grip on the tonfa, so that she was holding them just below the barrels. Angling herself so that she was flying arms first, she reached out for the tree she'd spotted earlier, and caught it with the handles of her weapons.

Catching the branch resulted in her flipping over it and landing on the ground acrobatically. It wasn't until she looked around that she realized she might have miscalculated. She'd landed in a particularly dark section of the forest. Not that she was afraid of the dark or anything—a life on the road had showed her that there were far more frightening things out there—but any number of Grimm might be hiding in that darkness, just out of sight. She was talented, but she was still only one person, and facing more than a half dozen Grimm at a time might be too much for her. Not for the first time, she envied the night vision her cousin Aurum took for granted as a Faunus.

Her best bet was retreat. Jade spun on her heel and scanned the surrounding forest. She needed to head north, but it looked like the forest thinned out a bit to the northeast. That tipped the scale—she'd find an easier path, then adjust her direction and head to the temple from there…

xxxxx

Not for nothing had Indie grown up with the biggest weapons nerd she'd ever met for a mom. Crescent Ranger might not look like much, but it had a few surprises built in. Indie was fiddling with one now: a clasp on the quiver strap that went around her shoulder. It concealed fifty feet of lightweight cord that, when released, was strong enough to support her weight. While still in free fall, Indie pulled an arrow from her quiver, attached it to the cord, nocked the arrow, and shot ahead toward a large tree branch.

The arrow lodged in the wood and Indie's direction changed from forward to a graceful arc that ended with her dangling from the cord. She hit the catch that would retract the cord, and went along for the ride as it raised her up toward the arrow. It halted with two feet to spare; she'd done that on purpose when designing this feature, so her hair and clothing wouldn't get caught.

She sat on the tree branch to take a short breather as she wound up the rest of the cord by hand and replaced the clasp. The arrow was still usable; she retracted the barbs and tucked it back into her quiver. That done, she took a look at the tree itself. It was no different from the trees she'd climbed back home, just bigger and taller. Satisfied, she began scaling the trunk with ease.

Higher up, Indie could make out the silhouette of the temple on the horizon. It didn't look too far, and if she hopped from treetop to treetop, she'd get there much quicker, not to mention she'd be able to see any Grimm before they got too close to her…

xxxxx

Aurum was getting bored; she was making good time through the forest, even without her semblance, and she hadn't seen a single Grimm since the one that had knocked her out of the sky.

A rustling up ahead caught her attention. An Ursa emerged from the foliage. _Finally!_

She set Aurora Blaze into her hands in a ready stance. The Ursa tilted its head and looked at her like it was thinking _what could this little girl possibly do to hurt me?_ Well, she'd show it exactly what she could do. Activating her semblance, she charged. She managed a good slash at its left side before it swiped at her with its massive paw. She wasn't hurt, but the monster had knocked the fan out of her left hand and was now _standing on it!_ Unbelievable—she'd teach this overgrown teddy bear a lesson about messing with a Huntress's weapons!

The Ursa eyed her. The two were caught in a brief staredown—until the beast reared back, an arrow in its right eye. For a moment, it was impossible to tell if Grimm or girl was more surprised—and then the monster exploded into flame and wisps of shadow.

Aurum looked around for her rescuer. She hadn't found them yet when an annoyed voice declared, "That was my only fire Dust arrow. You owe me, Aurum Belladonna." It came from above her. Startled, Aurum looked up. Her golden gaze met a pair of brilliant turquoise eyes, though that was all she could see; the rest of the face was shrouded in a dark blue hood.

She smiled; so, her partner had been decided. She knew full well that Indie never would have said that if they weren't related; her cousin was painfully shy with people she didn't know, but was considerably more talkative around her family and friends.

"Looks like we're partners," Indie added.

"Looks like," Aurum agreed.

xxxxx

As they walked, Indie sized up her new partner out of the corner of her eye. Aurum had attended Signal with her, though the two ran in very different circles. Indie was socially awkward and preferred to spend time studying in the library; she'd graduated at the top of her class as a result. While Aurum was far from stupid, she was much more outgoing and most of her free time had been spent hanging out with friends. She got above-average grades, but wasn't exactly an honors student.

Comparing their personalities, Indie decided they made a good match. Aurum might be able to introduce her to some new people, expanding Indie's pitifully small social circle, and hopefully Indie could convince Aurum to do some more studying to improve her grades.

Aurum was grumbling under her breath as she patted her fans. "Stupid Ursa, stepping on my baby… stupid Nevermore, too…"

Indie blinked. "You fought a Nevermore?"

Aurum scowled. "No, I was using Aurora Blaze as a hoverboard and it tried to sideswipe me. I saw it coming, but I lost my balance and fell off."

A sly expression settled onto Indie's face. "That's okay… don't cats always land on their feet?" She ducked the halfhearted swat that Aurum aimed at her.

"I'll only let you get away with that because you're family," Aurum told her. "Anyway, the dumb bird didn't even let me have the satisfaction of killing it; after it knocked me down, it lost interest."

"Inconsiderate Grimm," Indie agreed. "Look, we're at the ruins."

It was true; the old temple was quite overgrown and hard to see from the ground until they got close. Indie could see spots of bright color on pedestals. They walked over to the closest one.

"Glass stars? Weird," was Aurum's opinion.

Indie eyed her. "Weirder than chess pieces?"

Aurum thought back to Mom's stories about her own initiation. "Good point. What color should we pick?"

Indie looked around. Her gaze fell on a certain pedestal. "How about that one?"

"Sure," Aurum agreed. "Next question: now what?"

Indie had already seen a somewhat worn path leading behind the ruins. She pointed. "That way."

xxxxx

Skye's number of Grimm destroyed had risen to seven since landing, but she had yet to encounter another person. _What'll happen if I get to the temple without partnering with anybody?_

"Hey."

Only years of practice keeping her composure in public kept Skye from jumping a foot in the air. Turning, her light blue eyes locked onto a pair of amethyst ones. "Don't _do_ that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

From where she was leaning against a tree, Jade shrugged. Her semblance allowed her to fade from sight if she chose—useful for a fighter, but growing up, she'd often used it to play pranks on her family. It seemed some things never changed.

"Well, I guess we're partners now. I think we're almost at the temple…" Skye trailed off as another Grimm came into view. "Oh, come _on_. Another Beowolf? Can't I have a Deathstalker or a Boarbatusk for a change? I've fought nothing but Beowolves since I got down here!" She sized up the situation. "I'll hold it in place while you take it down?"

Jade nodded and fired a round in order to get the beast's attention. It turned toward her, leaving Skye outside its field of vision. Flicking Gladiola's chamber to gravity Dust, she summoned a glyph to hold the monster down and keep it from charging. It growled in confusion when it realized it could no longer move. Before it could do anything else, Jade ran in close and fired a handful of lightning Dust bullets into its open mouth. Both girls ducked behind trees as the Beowolf was fried to ash.

"So… the temple?" Jade suggested.

xxxxx

Jade decided she'd made the right choice, partnering with her cousin. True, sneaking up on her hadn't been necessary, but it _had_ been fun. They already got along well, and Jade had a lot of life experience that Skye didn't, since Yang and Jade lived on the road and Weiss had raised Skye a little bit sheltered. On the other hand, Skye had had the best tutors that could be found growing up, so she had a lot of book knowledge that Jade was lacking. They'd be able to help each other out.

The temple was upon them before they realized it. Jade grabbed what seemed to be the last artifact from its pedestal before following Skye, who had found a narrow pathway heading toward the far end of the temple. Once there, she was shocked to find a small airship hidden among the ruins, camouflaged to look like a large boulder.

"You two are the last ones," Headmistress Goodwitch announced from the front. "Onboard, please, and we'll head back to the school."

Jade took one of the only two seats left, in the middle away from the windows, and started thinking how she'd tell Mom about this. The ride back to the school was short. Once they'd landed, the Headmistress ushered them into the auditorium where the rest of the students and the faculty were already waiting. She lined up the first-years and then took the stage.

"Initiation is over. Please greet your newest classmates with the respect befitting future Huntsmen and Huntresses. First-years, when I call your name, please come up to the stage. Now, this year's teams are as follows." She turned to the scroll in her hand and began reading.

"Aurum Belladonna, Indigo Amitola-Rose, Skye Schnee, and Jade Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the red stars from the temple. From now on, you will be known as Team Sage, and your leader will be Skye Schnee."

Skye looked like a deer caught in the headlights at being named team leader. Headmistress Goodwitch began reading off the next series of names.

"Cerulea Gale, Kage Okami, Rhoda Nyx, and Esmeralda Montanya. The four of you retrieved the purple stars from the temple. From now on, you will be known as Team Chrome, and your leader will be Cerulea Gale."

Jade had seen Skye talking with Esmeralda after the welcoming speech, and she was pretty sure the entire school had heard Aurum shutting down the cute wolf Faunus yesterday (even though he really hadn't been flirting with her), but the others were new to her.

Cerulea Gale had turquoise hair tied back in pigtails, and was dressed entirely in black: a short-sleeved hoodie over a cropped tank top, knee-length leggings, and shoes that resembled work boots but redesigned to be fashionable. Her eyes were bright red, and she had a silver emblem of three interlocked spirals on the pocket of her hoodie, like a cyclone viewed from above. Vine-like tattoos started at her wrists and spiraled up her arms, disappearing under her sleeves. Rhoda Nyx had dark pink hair worn long and loose, hazel eyes, and a scattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose. She wore a hot pink dress with a combat skirt in the same style as Aunt Ruby's, and pink sneakers with white laces; the shoes each bore the emblem of a bird-winged star on the outside.

Jade watched carefully as the four remaining students, two guys and two girls, were designated Team Azure. She didn't recognize any of their names.

"Students, please proceed to your new dorms. Classes begin at nine o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. You are dismissed." With that, the headmistress walked off the stage.

 **And now, the initiation is over and my heroines have formed their own team! The team acronyms are: SAIJ, CROM, and AZSR. The way it'll work is SAIJ will be the main characters (if you hadn't already figured that out, heh), and the other two teams will be recurring characters that appear a lot, sort of like Team JNPR (although some may appear more than others). I'll describe each character as I introduce them; you can expect one or two for the next few chapters, and there will be other characters appearing as well.**

 **New names: "Cerulea Gale" is pretty obvious. I wanted to have a few characters who don't dress in their hair color! Nyx was the ancient Greek goddess of night, and** _ **rhodos**_ **means "rosy," so "Rhoda Nyx" basically means "rose night."**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy the adventures of Team SAIJ!**


	4. Settling In

**All right, now that initiation's over, I'll give you this outline for the rest of this fic. It will cover Team SAIJ's four years of education at Beacon. Each year will be 15 chapters or so, and I have the outline of each year planned out. Sigh… the trouble with this is that I have to write the scenes in chronological order, but they sure don't come into my head that way! I have a few that I'm very excited about, but I can't get to them quite yet.**

 **From here on, I'm going to stop doing "xxxxx" to distinguish a change in POV. I'll continue using it to describe a new scene, but I might change perspective a few times within said scene. I might also switch to the POV of somebody outside the main characters.**

 **I own nothing you recognize from the show.**

 **Settling In**

After dinner, the three new teams were shown to their dorms. They would be living in these rooms for the next four years, until they graduated, and then the rooms would be given to incoming first-year teams. Skye looked around the room that the newly-designated Team SAIJ had been assigned. Two sets of bunk beds, four small desks with a chair at each, and a long, low dresser that stretched between the beds. There was also a closet on each side of the door, large enough for two people to share as long as they weren't greedy, and bookshelves attached to the walls above the desks. The bathroom contained a sink, shower, and toilet; there was a large mirror above the sink.

"Let's set up," Indie suggested. "It's only six-thirty, we've got plenty of time to get situated before lights-out."

Aurum stared. "Lights-out? We have a _curfew_?"

Jade shook her head. "Did you even _glance_ at your student handbook?"

Aurum raised and lowered one shoulder in reply.

Skye was still taking in the dimensions of the room. "I think Indie's right. We should get unpacked now, so it's done before we have to be in class tomorrow." She motioned toward the pile of luggage that had been delivered to the room before they got there. "It'll go faster if we delegate. Aurum, can you make the beds?"

"Only if I get a top bunk."

"Any arguments?" Skye looked at Jade and Indie. "Personally, I'm fine with a lower bunk."

"Same," Jade agreed. "I'm just looking forward to having an actual mattress for a change. Indie, the second top bunk's yours if you want it."

"Awesome!"

"Indie, can you hang our clothes and put them in the closets?" Skye asked. "I see they brought our uniforms up."

"Okay, but some of it'll have to go in the dresser instead." Indie was eyeing her own duffel that was nearly bursting at the seams.

"Jade, if you could hang our pictures, I'll set up our books on the shelves."

"Deal. But first, let's separate out our stuff."

For a few minutes, the room became quiet as the four girls deposited their books on a desk, their pictures on the dresser, their clothes on one bunk, and their bedding on another, before picking up their assigned pile and beginning to set up. Skye stood on a desk and arranged books according to whose they were, noting with some amusement that Indie had brought several textbooks and that Jade seemed to have brought every novel she owned—which wasn't many, considering Jade had lived out of a suitcase for most of her life. Aurum, surprisingly, had brought several different kinds of books, from school books to fantasy novels to comics. Skye hadn't realized Aurum was that much of a reader.

Indie had hung all of their uniform skirts, blouses, and blazers and put her own stuff in a closet along with Jade's, and put Aurum and Skye's things in the other closet. Their combat outfits would also be stored in the closets; everything else would go into the dresser.

Aurum was enjoying hanging off the top bunks as she pulled sheets over the mattresses. It was pretty easy to tell what belonged to who: Indie's had a dark blue theme with embroidery on the edges that looked like arrow fletching. Jade's were bright green with geometric patterns in darker green. Skye's were grayish-blue and her bedspread had an elemental theme. Aurum's own sheets were purple—her favorite color, though she didn't wear it very often—and her own quilt had alternating black and gold cat faces on it. It didn't take her long to finish.

Jade had set up the two posters: Indie's poster of a cute boy band and Skye's Atlas military recruitment poster that Jade sincerely hoped was a joke. After hanging the sketch of the mountains of Mistral she'd drawn a few years ago, she'd moved on to photos. There was one of Aurum at nine years old, grinning hugely as she hefted Blake's katana, a freshly decapitated Grimm dummy at her side. Another picture was very recent—Indie in her Signal Academy graduate's robe, with the black and red trim that marked her as class valedictorian.

Each of them had at least one family portrait. The Belladonna family photo had Aqua sitting obediently between Blake and Sun, while Aurum had had to be sat on Blake's lap in order to keep her from squirming away. The twins looked to be about five. Another picture depicted Ruby and Ilia with the two-year-old Indie on Ruby's shoulders—the first photo they'd taken as a family after adopting Indie. Skye's photo had her twelve-year-old self posing with her saber, while Weiss did the same with her rapier; both were smiling happily. Jade's own family portrait had her and Yang standing in front of Yang's motorcycle, with helmets tucked under their arms; this photo had been taken only last year.

"We need a team photo."

Jade jumped; she hadn't noticed Aurum standing behind her. "Huh?"

"We need a team photo," Aurum repeated. "Right now, _that's_ the closest we've got."

She pointed at a picture Jade hadn't gotten to yet. It was of the five kids on a picnic blanket at three years old. It was far from a masterpiece: right before the photo had been taken, Aurum had punched Jade in the face, and Jade had wrestled her into the ground. Aqua had been hidden behind the brawl. Indie was watching a butterfly, facing to the right of the camera. Skye was the only one paying attention.

"I was actually thinking the same thing," Jade agreed. "But… I also think we should have a picture of Team RWBY."

Aurum's eyes lit up. "Oooh, good idea! Speaking of Team RWBY, we should probably call our parents to tell them the news."

"Actually, let's call them tomorrow. It's getting late," Indie noted.

The others agreed that that was probably the best idea, since their parents would probably want to talk for a while. Indie and Jade then settled into their bunks, each of them with a book.

Aurum yawned as she checked her social media feeds.

Skye unbound her hair—it was even longer than Aurum's when she let it down. She fiddled with something on her scroll. "I'm setting the alarm for eight tomorrow morning. We don't want to be late to class." That statement elicited snickers from her teammates; they all knew how their parents had almost been late to their first class on their first day. "That'll give us time to get breakfast beforehand."

She turned off the light and headed for bed.

"Wait, Skye, you're gonna—"

There was a crash, a thud, and a yelp of pain. Aurum sighed. "—trip over your suitcase." She went over and turned the light back on to reveal Skye sprawled on the floor, looking dazed. "How about I'm in charge of lights-out from now on? Since I can see in the dark and all."

Skye, sitting up, nodded. Aurum waited for her to get up and reach her bed before hitting the light switch. After she'd made her way to her own bed, she pulled out her much-loved Ursa plushie and curled up on her pillow.

 _It's been a long day… I hope tomorrow goes smoothly…_

xxxxx

Skye was awake a solid half hour before her alarm went off. Groaning, she got out of bed and headed for the closet. _There better be coffee at breakfast…_ After changing into her uniform, she headed for the bathroom to fix her hair. She stopped short when she realized she wasn't the only one in there. Jade was standing at the mirror with a comb, trying in vain to tame the cowlick on top of her head. She was already in her uniform.

When Aurum came back inside with a coffee mug in her hand, Skye was hugely relieved. Indie was the only one still sleeping when the alarm went off. She quickly put on her own uniform, though not without grumbling about having to wear a skirt. Skye noted with some satisfaction that despite their differences in size, shape, and complexion, the uniforms flattered them all equally. She herself was five feet nothing and thin, with a porcelain skin tone. The black, white, and burgundy color scheme suited her nicely, and the style of the blazer made it look like she had more of a figure than she did. She'd decided against wearing any jewelry.

Aurum was barely taller than Skye, but was the most well-muscled of the four, with a healthy tan from all the time she spent outdoors. She had kept her bow on with her uniform and the gold complemented it well. Jade, who was tall and curvy with a dark complexion, had opted for no accessories other than her glasses, but tucked her tonfa into her sleeves. Indie was fair-skinned, tall and wiry with a modest figure. She'd pinned her hood to the back of her blazer. That done, they set off toward the dining hall, where Skye immediately headed for the coffee machine. They ate their breakfast without conversation, though the other students were making plenty of noise. In what felt like no time at all, it was time for their first class, History of Remnant.

Team RWBY had described the history professor as an energetic man who drank coffee like his life depended on it, and did everything at hyperspeed as a result. Jade was a little disappointed that he simply sat on a desk and introduced himself.

"Welcome! I am Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, and I will be teaching this history class so that hopefully the current generation will learn from the mistakes of the past." He gesticulated emphatically as he spoke, but wasn't exactly flying around the room. Jade assumed that his coffee mug contained decaf. "Here is a rough outline for the semester, but be warned that we will quite likely deviate from it at some point, depending on what we need to cover. There will be a short quiz at the beginning of every week—" He held up a hand as a number of new students groaned. "The quizzes will only count for ten percent of your grade. They are more of a way for me to gauge your understanding of the topics we have covered, and determine what, if anything, we need to spend more time covering. Most of this class will be discussion-style, but please try to take notes."

He turned to the board. "For class today, we will be discussing Faunus rights in the last twenty years. Who can tell me what was the major turning point in the Faunus Rights Movement? Miss Montanya?"

Esmeralda lowered her hand as she replied, "The major turning point came eighteen years ago, when Weiss Schnee, head of the Schnee Dust Company, and Blake Belladonna, leader of the reestablished White Fang, announced that they were forming a partnership to ensure equal rights for Faunus employees."

Skye began sliding under her table in embarrassment.

Esmeralda continued, "This was an unprecedented alliance at the time, but almost immediately resulted in increased wages, improved benefits, and better working conditions for Faunus employees. Other companies soon followed their example, and the two leaders were often called in to negotiate terms for those businesses." She paused a moment, then added, "Although Weiss Schnee still appears in the news from time to time, usually in conjunction with a charity event of some sort, Blake Belladonna faded from the public eye several years ago, preferring to focus on her career as a Huntress and spend time with her family."

"Well said, Miss Montanya. Now, who can tell me some of the positive changes that have affected Faunus as a result of this alliance? Yes, you; I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

The boy he'd acknowledged had buzzed whitish-gray hair and the image of a phoenix with outstretched wings on the brown tie he wore, clearly not school-issue. Indie vaguely recognized him as being from Team AZSR. "Saphed Achamba, sir. There are laws now that prohibit any business from refusing to serve Faunus."

"Very true, Mister Achamba … Anyone else? Miss Belladonna?"

Aurum lowered her hand and stood to answer. "Over the last fifteen years, the population in Menagerie has decreased by nearly forty percent as young adults and families are moving to the kingdoms for work. Eighty percent of those emigrating Faunus are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. As a result of the decreased population, living conditions in Menagerie have improved significantly."

"Very good statistics, Miss Belladonna. Is there anything else that the class can think of?"

The discussion continued in the same vein until the bell rang, signaling the end of class. The students filed into the hallway and headed for their next class, Field Medicine.

The professor for this class was a woman that Skye guessed to be in her mid to late forties. She had mint-green hair worn in a simple ponytail. "My name is Emerald Planis, and in this class we will be learning about emergency measures you can take to help someone who has been injured in the field, as many missions take place far outside the kingdoms and you may not be able to evacuate an injured person to a hospital right away. We will cover more primitive techniques in addition to the modern medical practices you may already be familiar with." She handed out an outline for the semester, along with textbooks, then returned to the front of the room. "That… that is all I had planned for today. You are dismissed until your next class. Please read the first chapter in your books, and remember, I will not be doing this again!"

Aurum looked at her, shocked. _We've only been in here for five minutes!_ But everyone else was pulling their books and bags together and leaving, so she did the same. Jade brushed up against her shoulder, muttering, "That was weird."

xxxxx

After all the students had left, Emerald gripped the corner of her desk in one hand. It had been more than a year since her last flashback, and she'd started to hope that maybe she wouldn't have them anymore… but as soon as she'd seen the names on her roster, she'd begun feeling the spiraling sensation that always preceded them. She'd managed to keep it at bay until dismissing the students, but now she was at the mercy of her own memories…

 _The room was filled with smoke and flames… she couldn't see anything, but the sounds of battle were all around her…_

Emerald opened her eyes onto her classroom once more. The problem with these flashbacks, other than causing her to relive painful memories, was that they sent her into a depressive spiral that often lasted several days. This one actually hadn't been too bad. She sat down in her desk chair to try and clear her mind.

After the battle for Haven had failed, Emerald had been half-crazy with grief at losing the only person she cared about. That, coupled with the effects of overusing her semblance, had led to the irrational reaction of fleeing into the forest, in no shape to fight. The only reason she'd survived was because her emotions had been too incoherent for any Grimm to home in on her, and she hadn't encountered any by chance. She'd never known just how many days she'd stumbled around the forest before collapsing, half-dead, on the outskirts of a village.

When she'd awoken, there had been an older woman sitting next to her, waiting.

 _You certainly did a number on yourself out there, girl. Here, have some soup; eat it slowly, or you'll make yourself sick. What's your name?_

She'd managed to gasp out the word _Emerald_ before falling back into a memory; it had been the last she spoke for weeks. After that first flashback, they happened almost daily until she'd recovered enough strength to venture outdoors. The old healer, Perla, hadn't questioned her further, instead giving her small tasks meant to keep her busy. It had been the first time in her life that anyone had shown her such kindness without expecting anything in return.

If it hadn't been for the Ursa clawing at the village gate two months after her arrival, she might never have regained her fortitude. The fighters had struggled against such a large opponent; they'd been amazed when she'd snatched up her blades and sliced the beast in half easily. She'd begun to speak again after that, slowly at first, then becoming more confident. At that point, Perla had offered her an apprenticeship; she'd accepted. She'd soon found that the villagers referred to her as Emerald Planis—Emerald, the Wanderer. It was as good a name as any, she decided; after all, she'd never known her family.

Her flashbacks remained, so vivid that Emerald had wondered if she was somehow using her semblance on herself, but her mentor had explained that such things were not unusual after traumatic experiences, and that time was the only cure.

Emerald became so caught up in becoming a healer that she barely noticed the time passing. She'd been living in the village for six years when Perla announced that she was moving to Vale to live with her daughter. Emerald had been shocked to find herself crying at the news; she hadn't realized she'd grown to care for the old woman so much. She'd been even more shocked when the Perla had added that she'd pulled some strings to get Emerald an internship at a medical center in Vale.

 _But… why?_

 _You've learned all I can teach you. Whether or not you accept the internship is your choice, but it would be a shame to see your talents go to waste._

Emerald had ended up accepting, and three years later, when she'd completed it, her supervisor had asked to speak with her.

 _We would like to offer you a full-time job here._

 _I don't think I can accept. Working here doesn't feel right to me._

 _In that case, I believe the teacher of field medicine at Beacon is retiring at the end of this year. Why don't you apply for that job?_

She'd done as he suggested, though she'd been somewhat startled when she'd been hired almost immediately. Guilt had set in a few weeks later; many of the faculty members were the same as the ones who'd worked there when her team had infiltrated the school. It had gotten to the point where she'd gone to Headmistress Goodwitch and begged to resign. The formidable woman had asked her why; she'd been unable to lie.

 _I'm not who you think I am._

 _I'm well aware of your history, although I did wonder how long it would take you to tell me._

 _You… you knew?_

 _There are not many green-haired, red-eyed illusionists in Remnant; dare I say, none but yourself. You didn't even change your first name._

 _Why did you hire me if you knew?_

 _Because everyone deserves another chance…_

xxxxx

In the courtyard outside, Team SAIJ propped open their textbooks, oblivious to the emotional turmoil their teacher was experiencing.

 **Emerald is hands down my favorite villain in this series, between her tragic backstory and ability to pick pockets. This is one of several theories I have about what happened to Emerald after Volume 5, and really, of all the villains, I think she's the one that's most likely to have a Zuko-esque redemption arc. I can't see her staying and fighting for Salem (in her own words, "I don't care about Salem…"). Cinder may or may not return (that last scene was** _ **majorly**_ **ambiguous) but what matters is that Emerald thinks she's dead. I gave her a Greek last name (** _ **planis**_ **means "roamer," not "wanderer" like I have here, but I liked the sound of it) because the word** _ **emerald**_ **comes from the Greek word** _ **smaragdos**_ **, meaning "green stone."**

 **Another character introduction: "Saphed Achamba" translates to "white phoenix" in Hindi.**

 **I've also cleared up one of the points that I hinted at earlier. After Weiss retakes control of the company and Blake returns the White Fang to its peaceful origins, they team up in order to end discrimination against Faunus once and for all. The SDC has a lot of influence, even after the "questionable" methods that Jacques Schnee engaged in (of course, Weiss put a stop to** _ **that**_ **, too) so this alliance set a precedent that a lot of other businesses scrambled to emulate. For reference, there are still a few idiots who discriminate against Faunus, but overall, it's not nearly the blind prejudice that we see in the show.**


	5. Combat and Conversation

**I'm gonna try to get the next chapter up before Volume 6 premieres.**

 **I own nothing.**

 **Combat and Conversation**

Aurum became more and more restless as the day went on. She fidgeted constantly throughout Theory of Aura, Grimm Studies, and Practical Applications of Dust, although she still managed to take a few notes in each class. As the team headed back to the dorms to change for combat class, Indie was the first to point it out. "Aurum, what's up? Why are you so fidgety?"

"Umm… well…" Aurum turned slightly pink. "I'm thinking it was the three lattes I had this morning. I'm also thinking that maybe three was too many."

Jade stared. "I'll say! I thought you were gonna start flying around the room like a ping-pong ball! No more coffee for you. Good thing we've got combat class now; maybe it'll help you burn off some of that energy."

As they all entered the combat arena, Aurum was struck by the differences between this and the other classrooms. Instead of a standard lecture hall, with rows of seating and a board at the front of the room, was raised seating in an amphitheater style.

The professor for this class was a woman with short brown hair and rabbit ears. There was a small rose-colored ribbon tied around one ear; Aurum nodded her approval.

"Welcome to combat class." She had a slight accent. "My name is Velvet Scarlatina, and I have been teaching combat here at Beacon for ten years."

Aurum was sure she'd heard the name before. She'd have to ask later.

The professor continued, "In this class, you will learn to hone the fighting skills you already have, as well as some other techniques. How to conserve energy when you are at a disadvantage, and how to utilize your semblance to the best of your ability. Most of this class will consist of various matches between students, and after a match has concluded, the class will discuss what they saw in the fight."

Professor Scarlatina paused for a moment as she scanned the students' faces. "Now… I would like two volunteers to come to the arena and demonstrate their skills."

Aurum's hand immediately shot into the air, as did that of almost every other student in the room. The rabbit Faunus smiled. "All right… you and you." She pointed at Aurum and a girl in the first row who was dressed like a pirate. "Come show us your skills."

The young cat Faunus made her way to the front of the room. So did the piratey-looking girl.

"Your names and teams?" the professor asked them.

"Aurum Belladonna, Team SAIJ."

"Aubergine Marin, Team AZSR."

Aurum quickly sized up her opponent. Aubergine had curly purple hair cut to her shoulders, tamed somewhat by a black bandana. She had bright teal eyes and a light brown complexion, and was wearing a black t-shirt under a laced-up purple vest, along with a flouncy black skirt with purple trim. The skirt appeared to have a weapon belt attached directly to it; a sword hilt protruded from a holster on each thigh, and there was a black bracer on each forearm. The pirate look was completed with ripped purple leggings and black combat boots with purple laces. On the left side of her bandana was the image of a skull wearing earrings in front of two crossed swords.

"Have either of you competed in tournament-style fights before?" Aurum and Aubergine both nodded. "This will be the same type of match. You will fight until one of you has had your aura knocked into the red. I will be monitoring your aura levels on my scroll, and the readout will be displayed at the front of the room. I want this to be straight combat: no semblances and no Dust apart from bullets. Now, please take your places."

Aubergine retreated to the far corner, leaving Aurum to take the corner opposite her. The purple-haired girl released her weapons from the holsters on her thighs; now she was holding a deadly-looking scimitar in each hand. Aurum did the same, releasing Aurora Blaze from her wrists and extending them into their fan forms. _She uses dual weapons like I do, so no advantage there; and with my semblance unusable, this could be pretty close._ She smiled; close fights were always more fun.

"Ready…? Begin!"

Aubergine made the first move, slashing at Aurum with the scimitar in her right hand. Aurum blocked the strike expertly, and countered with the fan in her left hand. Aubergine clearly hadn't expected her opponent to be so fast; she barely got her sword up in time to block. Aurum immediately swung into the combination she'd spent weeks perfecting: a quick strike with the fan in her other hand, at Aubergine's occupied left arm. It was more effective against an opponent armed with a single weapon, but it was a solid blow; Aubergine's aura readout decreased by a few points.

"Not bad." The pirate girl grinned at her. "But let's see what else you got."

She shifted her grip on the sword hilts as the weapons changed shape, until she was holding two pistols that looked like they could cause some serious damage. As she started shooting, Aurum went on the defensive, locking the bases of Aurora Blaze together and using the joined tessen as a shield. She didn't manage to block every bullet, and her own aura decreased as the first few hit her.

Aurum grinned back at her opponent. "I got plenty. Can you handle this?" The hail of bullets was over; she separated the two halves of Aurora Blaze, and went back on the offensive. Aubergine was forced to convert her weapons back into their scimitar forms in order to block Aurum's frenzied attacks. She gave as good as she got, however; both girls had their auras knocked into the yellow when they took a moment to catch their breath.

Aubergine blew a stray curl out of her face. "Well, _I'm_ having fun. You're not half-bad." She punctuated this statement by slashing at Aurum's feet. The cat girl nimbly dodged out of the way of the strikes by cartwheeling to the side, then aiming a strike at Aubergine's unprotected back.

"Same here," Aurum replied, breathing heavily. "We'll have to do this again sometime." Her next words were cut off as Aubergine turned and fired a bullet at her, then followed up by slashing with the sword. Aurum hadn't even noticed her shifting one scimitar into its pistol form.

"And that's the match. Miss Marin is the victor, though the two of you were nearly even."

Aurum glanced up at the aura readout. It showed her own aura had dipped into the red, but Aubergine's aura was only barely still in the yellow. _Huh… I lost. Oh, well, I can't win every match. Still, that was_ _ **seriously**_ _fun. Aubergine's a good opponent._ She crossed the arena floor and held her hand out to the purple-haired girl, saying, "That was fun."

Aubergine quickly shook her hand, grinning. "For sure it was! That was a close match; we'll have to spar at some point. I'd love to see what you can do when you're not under restrictions."

The two girls headed back to their seats as Professor Scarlatina announced, "I always love to see good sportsmanship like that. Now, for the rest of the class: please tell me some things you observed in this match."

Saphed Achamba raised his hand. "Aurum has a weapon with defensive capabilities. She was able to use it as a shield to block most of Aubergine's bullets."

The professor nodded. "Very good. Who else saw something?"

Kage Okami—who'd been quiet all day—added, "Aubergine's swords transform to pistols. Aurum's fans don't seem to be guns."

Professor Scarlatina tilted her head to the side; her left ear folded over. "Is that the case?"

"No." Aurum shook her head. "Mine are pistols too; I just didn't feel like reloading in the middle of a match."

"Fair enough… anyone else?"

xxxxx

Team SAIJ headed to the café for a snack after class ended, and ended up sitting next to Team AZSR in the courtyard as they ate, with Team CROM on their other side. They chatted aimlessly about the day until a lull in the conversation. Esmeralda took advantage of the quiet to ask, "Hey, Aurum?"

The cat Faunus looked up from her fruit and yogurt. "Yeah?"

"Your mother is Blake Belladonna, right?" Aurum nodded. "I'm curious… your parents are still married, so why do you use your mom's last name?"

Aurum grinned. "My grandad is the Chieftan of Menagerie, and after everything he and my mom did for the White Fang, the Belladonna name carries a lot of weight. My parents thought it would give me an advantage… and they were right, but sometimes having a famous last name can be more of a nuisance than anything else."

Skye didn't say anything, but held out a hand, palm up; Aurum slapped five on her.

"Huh… I guess that makes sense," Aubergine interjected. "What I'm curious about… Indigo. Your hair is absolutely adorable, but is it uneven on purpose?"

The girl turned bright pink at being addressed before replying, "I cut it myself when I was four. My parents thought it looked so cute they decided to get my hair styled like this ever since. And… I usually go by Indie."

Aurum carefully placed her hands on Aurora Blaze, ready to leap to Indie's defense if necessary. It wouldn't be the first time Indie's shyness and intelligence had made her a target for bullies, although they'd learned to leave her alone after Aurum kicked their collective asses a few times. Indie had gotten better at standing up for herself since; however, this was a new school with new people. If anyone here needed to be taught a lesson about bullying, Aurum was fully prepared to give it to them.

Aubergine considered. "Indie… that's cute. I like it. Where are you from?"

"Patch," Indie replied. "I grew up there, and Aurum's family moved there a few years ago, so we went to Signal together."

"Cool." Rhoda Nyx had joined the conversation. "Mom's job means I've lived in all four kingdoms at some point in my life, most recently Vacuo. I actually took the entrance exams at Shade before Mom announced she was getting transferred again. Patch is one of the few places I've never been. What's Signal like?"

"The primary combat schools are all pretty similar," Jade volunteered. "Since people transfer between them all the time, they use the same curriculum and scoring system. I never attended one, but I've visited them all, and other than cultural differences, they're pretty much the same."

Cerulea Gale looked up from her textbook. "Why didn't you attend a primary school?"

"Mom and I basically lived on the road. It's always been just the two of us," Jade replied.

Saphed looked over. "You don't have a father?"

Jade frowned, on her guard. "Mom won't tell me anything other than that he was a good guy but it didn't work out between them. I'm pretty sure he's dead." _If this guy tries picking on me…_ "Saphed, right?"

Saphed nodded. He'd changed into a white button-down shirt and brown dress pants. Though the outfit was formal, he wore it casually: the shirt was untucked with the sleeves rolled up, the pant legs were cuffed, and the tie he'd been wearing with his uniform earlier hung around his neck loosely. He'd paired the outfit with spotless white sneakers. Up close, Jade could see that his eyes were a light shade of orange, and his skin tone was only a few shades lighter than her own. "The reason I ask is I've never met my father at all. My stepdad is great, and my little sisters are too, but… well, I can't help wondering sometimes."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jade's expression grew distant. "I assume he's got dark skin and green hair, but that doesn't give me a lot to go on. Other than that, I look a lot like my mom."

"At least he's probably not a pretentious jerk who got drunk and crashed his motorcycle in the middle of divorce proceedings," Skye grumbled.

The rest of Team SAIJ looked at the heiress in surprise. Skye _never_ talked about her family issues around others, but it seemed that being away from home had ignited a spark of rebellion in her. "What? It's not like it's a secret. That's the biggest scandal my family's ever had, and we've had a lot."

The other male student from Team AZSR flinched. "Ick. I can confirm that; my father is a reporter." When all the other first-years looked at him, he added, "You've probably heard of him. Karmin Serpentina?"

Everyone seated around the courtyard stared. Karmin Serpentina was infamous for exaggerating his stories to the point of fabrication. Skye shot the boy a suspicious glare. "Are you here to report on me to him? I'm sure there's lots of demand for embarrassing stories about the Schnee heiress."

The guy shook his head emphatically. "My father is a loser, and my mother's not much better. I'm here so I can break out from their shadow, y'know? I don't wanna be known for who my parents are; I wanna be known for who _I_ am: a Huntsman and—" he grinned suddenly "—and a killer musician. Oh, I'm Zelty, by the way."

Zelty was the only student who hadn't changed out of a uniform for combat class. He was fairly pale, though not to the same extent that Skye was, with curly light blond hair and a pin on his jacket of a snake coiled into the shape of a treble clef. Earlier, Skye had thought his eyes were silver like Aunt Ruby's, but now she could see that they were darker, more of a storm-gray color.

Aurum, not liking the serious turn the conversation had taken, butted in with, "Hey, Zelty, how come you didn't put on your combat outfit for class?"

The blond boy looked slightly embarrassed. "I don't really have one yet. I kinda only announced I was enrolling at Beacon recently. Even though my combat scores aren't great, my academic scores balanced out my grades a bit, but I'm still on probation 'til I improve. Anyway, when I told my parents I'd enrolled at Beacon, they both threw a fit and cut me off, which I was expecting; I'd already applied for and received a scholarship that'll cover my tuition, and found a Huntsman to sponsor me. I've only got about a hundred Lien saved up after registration, though."

Aubergine's eyes lit up. "Ooh, shopping trip! This weekend! We'll take you into Vale and find you something that works!"

Aurum grinned. "I'm in! A good Huntsman needs a signature look! Do you at least have weapons?"

"Of course I do! Here." He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up, revealing a pair of sais daggers with collapsible blades. "They don't convert to guns, like _some_ people's—" here he tossed a mock offended look at his team leader. Aubergine only laughed. "—but they _do_ have Dust chambers."

Aurum whistled appreciatively as Indie all but pulled out a magnifying lens to inspect the weapons.

"They're also flutes."

The teenagers all turned toward the source of the voice: Aubergine's last teammate, a fair-skinned girl with brown hair that had the tips dyed silvery green. Her hair fell just past her shoulders, and her eyes were a bright sapphire blue. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless mint-green-and-black checked button-down shirt, and baggy mint green shorts over black leggings. She smirked when she saw them staring at her. "He woke us up playing this morning. He's not bad, but we all agreed that from now on, seven in the morning's too early for flute practice."

Skye was trying to remember the girl's name, but Aurum beat her to it. "Rue Scripta, right? I love your weapon."

Rue looked over her weapon, a seven-foot naginata with Dust cartridges along the length of it, and a large crystal set into the other end. It also looked as though it converted to gun form. "Thanks! My baby does good work. I love yours, too; it's got defensive and melee capabilities, and you said it's also a gun?"

Aurum beamed. It wasn't often she got to discuss complicated weaponry with anybody other than Indie. "Sure is! And a hoverboard." She didn't mention the final component; after all, she was still working on it.

Rue practically had stars in her eyes. Indie noticed that the emblem of a large feather curled into a circle with a round bottle in the center was emblazoned on her leggings, just above her black high-tops. "Awesome! I love weapons. It took me a long time to design NightShade here, but I'm really happy with it. I've been drooling over people's weapons since I got here. Actually, I've been wondering—" She turned to Esmeralda. "—what do your bracelets do?"

Esmeralda looked startled. "You can tell they're weapons? I'm impressed." She activated the bracelets, which separated into gauntlets that covered her wrists. "They shoot bullets, but they're also loaded with hard light energy. I can make claws that extend out over my hands, or blades that go the other way, over my elbows."

Jade looked thoughtful. "My mom uses one of those. It's just a gun, though, not a bladed weapon."

Aurum had moved on to another thing that she'd been wondering about. "Hey, Esmeralda, I've been meaning to say: your scales are really pretty."

"Call me Esme; all my friends do. You think so?" Esmeralda looked over the scales on her arms. "Most people think they're weird. Iguana Faunus aren't very common. My parents say that discrimination against Faunus isn't as bad as it was when they were my age, but I've still been teased a lot."

Cerulea looked up from her textbook again. "Let 'em try. No one's gonna mess with my team." She punctuated her statement by casually taking hold of the curved sword strapped to her back. Jade was pretty sure it was called a khopesh.

"How about you, Cerulea? Where are you from?" Kage asked his team leader.

"Vacuo," Cerulea replied. "I couldn't take living in the desert anymore." That explained her light tan, and also her attitude, Aurum realized.

A rumbling noise made everyone jump. Indie turned scarlet. "Uhhh… bye." She turned and ran.

"Hey, wait! I'm hungry too!" Aurum yelled before activating her semblance and racing after Indie.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Guess that's our cue to go." She picked up the stack of textbooks next to her and headed after the others, Skye close behind her.

xxxxx

After stuffing their faces in the dining hall, Team SAIJ reentered their dorm room with the intent of calling their parents and telling them the news. Skye immediately selected the first contact on her scroll and set it to speaker as she waited. Her call was answered on the second ring.

"Skye! I've been waiting for you to call me! What took you so long?"

"Mom!" Skye protested. "You promised you'd take a step back and let me live my life here at Beacon."

There was a pause, then a sigh. "You're right, I did. I'm sorry. How were your first couple days?"

Before Skye could answer, an amused voice came from another scroll. "Who knew the ice queen was actually capable of _not_ micromanaging?"

"YANG!" Weiss shrieked. "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING THERE?!"

"I'm not. I'm visiting Dad. Jade, what's going on?"

"Skye called Weiss. I called you. The others haven't picked up yet." Jade was struggling to hold in her laughter.

"Speak for yourself." Blake's dry voice came over Aurum's scroll. "I thought my life seemed a little too calm. I should stop tempting fate like that."

"What is going on? Why are all of you part of this conversation?" Ruby sounded like she was in a busy area.

"If you'll all just be quiet for one minute…" Skye began dramatically. The chatter died down. "… All four of us are on a team together. I'm the leader of Team SAIJ. Our first day of classes went pretty smooth, right girls?" Her teammates all cheered. "What have you been doing since you dropped us off?"

"I'm shopping in Vale at the moment," Ruby volunteered. "We all spent yesterday catching up and headed out this morning."

"Well, like I said, I'm visiting Dad." Yang must have been in the same room as him, because they all heard Tai yelling, "Congratulations, girls!"

"I'm on the boat back to Patch. Aurum, now that you've graduated from Signal, we're thinking about moving back to Vale." Blake's tone was neutral. "I have a mission that starts next week, but I think we'll start looking at houses as soon as I get back."

"Hey, what's wrong with Patch?" Ruby wanted to know.

They could all practically hear Blake roll her eyes. "Nothing's _wrong_ with it, Ruby. But the only reason we moved to Patch in the first place was so that Aurum could go to Signal."

"I made it back to Atlas about an hour ago," Weiss broke in. "Klein handled things in my absence, and everything went smoothly, although I have a pile of paperwork to look over."

"Paperwork. Fun," Skye muttered, deadpan.

"Skye Schnee, did I just hear _sarcasm_ come out of your mouth?"

"You tell me."

"It was! I approve," Weiss declared.

Yang and Aurum both cracked up.

"So… was your initiation as crazy as ours?" Ruby wanted to know.

The four teenagers looked at each other, then started laughing. "Well, let's see…" Indie considered. "Launched off a cliff, killed a bunch of Grimm… I'd say it was about even."

"I killed seven Beowolves," Skye volunteered proudly.

Aurum scowled, still bitter about not having destroyed a single Grimm by herself. "I got ambushed by an Ursa, but Indie shot it before I could do anything."

"You'll get your chance, Aurum," Ruby hurried to reassure her.

"Don't let her fool you, Ruby. Aurum's killed plenty of Grimm before," Blake interjected. "We should probably go; I'm sure you all have homework."

"We actually don't, other than the readings we did this afternoon." Jade considered. "Although I was hoping to make it to the gym this evening."

"Well, then, we'll let you get to it." Yang was the first to hang up. Blake and Ruby followed suit. Weiss did the same, but not before making Skye promise to call her if anything happened.

The obligatory call out of the way, the four girls dispersed. Skye headed out for a run, Indie went looking for something she could climb, and Aurum and Jade made a beeline for the gym to practice their hand-to-hand combat. Their workouts lasted for a solid hour, and they all filtered back into the dorm room before showering, changing into pajamas, and picking up books to read in bed.

 **Wow, this one took me a while! Between figuring out the choreography for the fight scene and deciding how to introduce new characters, it got pretty complicated.**

 **I also wanted to use this chapter to explain some of the family dynamics that exist so far. Weiss's marriage didn't work out; she was in the middle of divorce proceedings when the lunkhead went out for a few drinks, ended up getting totally wasted, and crashed his motorcycle on the way home. Yang's separation from her boyfriend was amicable, but he disappeared on a mission not long afterward, and she doesn't really know how to explain that to her daughter.**

 **This fic would not exist if I hadn't gotten bored at work one day and started thinking, "What would RWBY be called if Remnant naming tradition was based on eye color instead of hair color?" I didn't get any farther than deciding that Blake would be called Aurum, but the name stuck with me. Then it took on a personality of its own, and that's how this fic came into being.**

 **I absolutely adore Velvet's character and I wish she'd gotten more screen time, so I decided to make her the combat teacher. We really only see her badassery in one episode, but that was totally epic.**

 **New characters: "aubergine" is French for "eggplant." I thought it was much too pretty to not include (thank you, bilingual roommate). Aubergine's last name "marin" translates as "seafarer" or "mariner," which I felt went nicely with the pirate theme she's got going on. And yes, her symbol is basically a skull and crossbones. (I absolutely _adore_ lady pirates.) "Zelty" comes from "zheltyy" the Russian word for "yellow", and I thought having a name that related to snakes would be appropriate for a sleazy reporter. "Rue" is the name of a plant, and her last name is a play on "scribe", hence the quill-and-ink-bottle emblem.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	6. Dates and Drama

**As promised, here's the next chapter, just in time for V6! Who's excited? I know I am! I have a better idea of what's going to happen later on in the story now, so I've updated the plot summary to reflect that.**

 **Anything you recognize belongs to the lovely people at Rooster Teeth. Anything you don't recognize is all mine! *cackles* I'm on a bit of a sugar high at the moment. (I regret nothing.)**

 **Dates and Drama**

After the first few days, the excitement started to die down as everyone settled into a routine. Sitting in the dining hall one evening, Aurum was startled to realize that almost a month had already gone by. It was dinnertime on Friday, and the room was louder than normal. A team of second-years at the next table were being particularly rowdy.

"… so, I look around, and I realize: those aren't Grimm, they're just scraggly bushes that look like monsters. I mean, no wonder they hadn't moved an inch! And here I'd been standing and shaking my sword at them all night." The redheaded girl telling the story stopped talking as her teammates cracked up. She mock-glared at them, but after a moment, she gave up and started laughing along with them. "I guess it _is_ pretty funny when you think about it."

One of her teammates guffawed for another minute, then calmed down. "Don't worry about it, Scar. We all make mistakes. Remember the time I got stuck in that stupid tree?"

"Scar" snickered, then stopped as her two other teammates stood up to leave. "Meet you in the library later?"

"You got it," one of them replied. The other just gave a thumbs-up.

Aurum looked over at the table, thinking that the guy looked _so_ familiar. He had a light tan and dark blond hair that fell over his ears. His combat outfit consisted of a dusty blue button-down with the right sleeve torn off, tan cargo shorts, and light brown boots. He wore a pauldron on his unsleeved shoulder, and a chain mail belt. A bandana in the same shade of blue as his shirt, with the emblem of three crossed keys, was tied around his right wrist. It wasn't until he stood up and she saw his light blue eyes that she put the pieces together.

"Hey, Tanso!"

The guy turned and looked at her for a moment, then his expression cleared. "Aurum Belladonna! It's been a while!"

Aurum got up and stood between Team SAIJ's table and the next one. "This is Jade and Skye." She pointed to each girl as she said their name. "Tanso Keyes was in our class at Signal. He graduated early because there was an uneven number of students entering Beacon last year for new teams."

Indie smiled hesitantly at her old friend. "It's nice to see you again."

Tanso grinned back. "Likewise! And I've heard a good amount about you two," he added, directing his gaze toward Skye and Jade. "You're all cousins, right? What are the odds you all ended up on the same team?"

Jade glanced over at him. "Not sure what the odds are, but it happened. Wait, you graduated early so there'd be even teams? But I thought they only offered that opportunity to the top student in the year."

Tanso shrugged. "Goodwitch offered Indie the open spot, but she turned it down. I was second in the class, so they asked me next." Noticing his neglected teammate, he added, "Oh, sorry. I should have introduced you. This is Scarletta Torre. Our other teammates left, but we can introduce you later."

Scarletta was a fair-skinned, somewhat stocky teen with coppery red curls that reached her shoulders. She was dressed like a knight, with gold armor on her wrists, shoulders, and knees, and a gold chain mail vest over a tunic and leggings in the same color as her hair. On her left hip was a brooch in the shape of a castle keep. She wore sturdy brown boots, and amethysts were visible at her earlobes. "Nice to meet you all. It's good to see Wallflower here actually talking to people instead of computers."

"I talk to people!" Tanso protested.

"Yeah, now." Scarletta rolled her violet eyes. "But you wouldn't even do that when you first got here. We all thought you were totally stuck-up."

"Well, excuse me for being intimidated!" While arguing with his teammate, Tanso had maneuvered himself around the table until he was sitting in between Indie and Skye.

Scarletta was snickering until she stood up. "I'm just messing with you. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, but I've got that paper to work on for Oobleck's class on Monday. See ya." She walked off toward the library.

Tanso turned back to Team SAIJ. "I really hit the jackpot with my team. They might give me a hard time a lot, but they've never been resentful of a younger student being placed with them." Turning, he added, "You know, Indie, we're allowed to go into Vale on weekends. You maybe wanna catch a movie or something?"

It took a moment for his words to click, but when they did, they clicked hard. Red-faced, Indie stammered, "Are you… asking me out?"

Tanso looked embarrassed. "I mean, technically…" He trailed off.

Somewhere—she wasn't sure where, exactly—Indie found the courage to say, "Sure… I'd like that."

"Then it's settled." Aurum was standing behind Indie's left shoulder, with Jade next to her. "Come by our room at four o'clock tomorrow; we're on the third floor. Bye!"

Indie's teammates quickly hustled her out of the dining hall and into the dorm. Once they were in their room, Jade locked the door, and they all stood there, giggling.

"A guy _finally_ asked you out!" Skye squealed.

"Oh, _you're_ one to talk. Boys are too intimidated by your last name to even talk to you!" Indie retorted.

Aurum wasn't sure where this snarky side of Indie had come from, but she liked it. Jade was the one to say, "Cool it, you two. We've got a lot to do before tomorrow. Indie, what're you gonna wear?"

Indie glared. "My combat outfit, obviously. I'm not blowing a ridiculous amount of Lien on a nice outfit for a first date, and there's no way I'm wearing my uniform on a Saturday."

Jade considered. "Fair enough, but we're not gonna let you wear your hood. What movie will you see?"

"The new _Fallen Warriors_ movie is supposed to be good…"

xxxxx

Indie managed to avoid freaking out about her upcoming date by throwing herself into her homework assignments. By three o'clock, she'd done her Field Medicine reading, finished her comparison of Nevermores and Gryphons for Grimm Studies, written four pages of the assigned six-page essay for Theory of Aura, and even started her report on the uses of wind Dust that wasn't due until Thursday.

She spent most of the next hour fooling with her hair. _Does this look okay? How about this?_

At precisely four o'clock, a knock sounded at the door. Aurum opened it to find Tanso wearing a light blue shirt underneath his school uniform jacket, and khakis. He seemed to have made some effort to tame his unruly hair, although it hadn't done much.

Jade smirked at him. "You kids have fun. Make sure you're back by curfew; you don't want to get on Goodwitch's bad side." The implied _or ours_ made Tanso immediately promise that they'd be back by ten o'clock at the latest, before Indie walked out to join him and closed the door firmly behind her.

Aurum eyed the closed door. "Anybody else feel like a trip into Vale?"

Skye looked at her over the top of her book. "You're not fooling anyone. Try to follow them, and I _will_ lock you in the bathroom."

Aurum grumbled but hopped up onto her bunk to work on her Theory of Aura essay. Jade looked down at the textbook in her hands without really seeing it. _I might have had my doubts, but clearly combat school has been good for Indie. She's way more confident than she was even when we started._

A dinging sounded from Skye's scroll, followed by the heiress groaning, "Oh, _no_! Not _again_!"

Aurum peeked over the side of her bed to look at her. "What again?"

Skye held up her scroll. "Apparently, my grandfather has decided that the Schnee family needs to reconnect." She made air quotes around the last word. "He says all of us need to meet on neutral ground in order to talk like civilized people. Why does he even bother? He's done this before and it's a disaster every time."

Jade set her book down. "I thought you and Aunt Weiss weren't on speaking terms with anybody but Winter."

"We're not. Mom hates her brother for trying to make her look incompetent, and Whitley hates Mom for wresting the company back from him after he thought he'd won. My grandparents hate each other too—you know they got a divorce right after Mom took over. And they hate Mom for partnering with the White Fang, and Winter for joining the military. These stupid things never work out." Skye leaned back with her hand over her face. "It's never erupted into all-out warfare before, but let's just say that there's a reason every woman in my family has the nickname of 'Ice Queen.'"

Jade had the audacity to snicker. Skye fixed her with a death glare. "It's _not_ funny."

"When is it?" Aurum wanted to know.

Skye glanced at the message. "It's… okay, this could work. It looks like he's designated a weekend near the end of the school year. If I'm right…" She flipped over to a different function on her scroll. "… yes! The weekend he mentioned will be during our team missions. I won't be able to go because we'll be out in the field shadowing professional Huntsmen!"

"So… that's a good thing?" Jade wanted to confirm it.

"Yes, it's a good thing! I can't exactly skip out on a vital part of our education, and if I'm out on a mission with the rest of you, then I won't have to hang around my relatives being all frosty while they pretend they don't actually hate each other. It means I have a perfectly legitimate excuse to miss it. Also, going on a mission with my best friends will be way more fun." Skye paused to consider for a moment. "Then again, it's a _really_ low bar. Seriously, going to the dentist would be more fun than a Schnee family reunion."

Skye got the laugh she'd intended with that last comment. The girls returned to their studying for the next few hours, although they did each take a break individually for a snack around dinnertime. Around eight, Jade decided that she'd done enough studying for one day, and pulled one of Aurum's comics off the shelf (keeping an eye on the cat-girl to make sure she wasn't caught in the act), along with her sketchbook and pencils.

Indie finally walked back into Team SAIJ's dorm at nine-fifteen. Aurum, Skye, and Jade immediately mobbed her at the door. "How was the movie?" "Did you get dinner?" "Did you have fun?"

The young archer only ignored them and climbed onto her bunk, cuddling her battered Beowolf plushie. After the others had calmed down, she looked over and replied, "The movie was good, we got pretzels from a cart, and yes, I had fun. But… Tanso's just a friend. I don't think I want to be dating him." She was looking at Aurum specifically, pleading with her eyes _You're the only one of us with any dating experience; pleeeaaasse help me out here!_

Aurum frowned. "You should tell him that. Don't lead him on if you don't think it'll go anywhere. He's a good guy and like you said, he's your friend; he'll understand."

Indie nodded, clearly relieved. "That's what I thought, too. And it'll give me more opportunity to work on my combat skills."

Jade regarded her, puzzled. "What's wrong with your combat skills?"

"They're terrible!" Indie burst out. "I'm so clearly the weakest link on this team. I'm awful at hand-to-hand combat and my weapons are only good from a distance! I only enrolled at combat school because I want to kill Grimm, not fight against people!" She paused to take a breath as her teammates stared at her in stunned silence. That outburst was clearly something that had been bothering her for a while, but this was the first she'd given voice to it.

Aurum was the first to recover. "Well, if that's how you feel, maybe we should do something about it. How about we all go to the gym to practice tomorrow afternoon?"

Skye was quick to agree. "I'm not great at close-range combat either. If you two—" she pointed toward Jade and Aurum "—are okay with it, you could give us some pointers."

Aurum considered. "I think I can make that work."

xxxxx

 _Well, that didn't do much_ , Skye reflected in combat class on Monday. Indie was currently engaged in a match against Esmeralda, and the archer was clearly out of her league. Esme's gauntlets were in their active form, with hard-light blades extending out over her elbows that resembled the dorsal fins of sharks. She was easily parrying every blow Indie attempted, and dealing crushing damage in return. The few minutes that Team SAIJ worked on hand-to-hand skills hadn't been enough to prepare her for this.

Jade winced as a final strike from Esme not only lowered Indie's aura into the red, but also knocked her across the room. Her head struck the wall with an audible _thud_. Esme went to help her up. From the front row, Aurum could hear the dazed girl mumbling, "Look at all the cute little Beowolves." Esme hauled her to her feet and the two returned to their seats. Professor Scarlatina looked at the time and then announced, "That will be all for today. Team SAIJ, a moment please before you leave."

The four girls glanced at each other, all wondering what the teacher wanted with them. They cleaned up their notes and textbooks as the rest of the class shuffled out of the room.

"Now…" The professor looked them over. "I like to point out weaknesses when I see them, but I usually prefer to do so with each team, rather than in frnt of the whole class. The four of you have done better than most, especially in full-team battles, but you have certain flaws in your individual fighting styles that I want you to work on."

She turned to Indie first. "Miss Amitola-Rose. You rely much too heavily on distance to win your fights. I understand that this is your chosen fighting style, but as things stand now, you are easily defeated whenever your opponent gets into close range. May I see your weapon for a moment?"

Indie reluctantly handed over Crescent Ranger. Professor Scarlatina looked it over with a critical eye. "Very fine craftsmanship. These blades on the ends—do you ever use them?"

Indie shook her head. "I intended to, but I never got good enough to use them effectively."

"I'm sure your teammates can help you with that. Having a weapon that you don't use is a waste." She handed the weapon back to Indie, who looked it over as though contemplating the possibilities. "Miss Schnee. You use fire Dust almost exclusively. Your weapon can accommodate up to six Dust cartridges, so I suggest you get more comfortable with other types of Dust as well."

Skye nodded.

Aurum was next. "Miss Belladonna. Your weapons are well suited to you, and very versatile, but you're impatient. You tend to rush into a fight without taking into account all of your opponent's strategies or weapons. Skilled opponents can and will take advantage of this."

She turned to Jade. "Miss Xiao Long, your combat scores are excellent, but I have seen the grades you've received on your written assignments. I suggest you visit the library for more advice on how to improve your writing skills."

The professor eyed them all shrewdly. "Now… off you go. I want to see some improvement in all of you by next week." She led the way out of the classroom, then locked the door behind her and headed for her office.

Skye turned to her team. "You heard the lady! We've got work to do! Ummm…" She cocked her head, thinking, then clapped her hands together. "Okay. First, I think we should pair off for sparring. Aurum, Jade, you two already agreed to help us with hand-to-hand combat, but I think we need to step up our game. You with me?"

"Absolutely," Jade replied. Aurum nodded enthusiastically.

"Then let's go. There're some sandbags in the gym that we can practice on. After that, I think we should split up and work individually." They started heading for their dorm.

Once at their room, they changed into workout gear. Skye put on a baby-blue tank top and matching shorts, and Jade paired a black t-shirt with her regular shorts. Indie simply wore the shirt and pants from her combat outfit, while Aurum kept her leggings and gloves, but changed into a cropped purple t-shirt that read _Catnip Made Me Do It_.

After filling their water bottles at the sink, they headed for the gym. Indie cast a longing look at the bouldering wall, until her view was blocked by Jade. "Don't even think about it, cuz. This way." She led the protesting girl over to a punching bag suspended from a low beam. "All right; let's see what you got."

Indie dubiously made a fist and tentatively smacked the bag. Jade sighed. "Okay, first things first. Make sure you keep your thumbs _outside_ your fingers, unless you feel like breaking them. Didn't Mom teach you how to throw a punch?"

"No… but she _did_ teach me how to swim by tossing me in a lake when I was three."

Jade smirked. "Yep, she taught me the same way. Anyway…" She reached out and rearranged Indie's fingers into a proper fist. "When you're punching something, you need to use your knuckles, not the side of your hand."

Her cousin looked so dejected at that observation that Jade felt a little guilty. Then again, Aurum was telling Skye the same thing at another station. "Look, if you're completely focused on it, you'll get better in no time. It's not as bad as all that, okay?"

"Okaaay," Indie sighed. "Here goes…" Her next punch had a little more strength behind it.

"Again," Jade ordered.

For the next hour they practiced, with the two blue-clad girls hitting their respective sandbags while the other two did some sparring. Finally, Skye called a halt. "I feel like we should work on other stuff while we're here."

"I know." Indie had a look on her face that might have been described as diabolical. "Aurum and I are pretty good at climbing, but Skye and Jade haven't left the ground since initiation. How about you two give those ropes a try?"

Skye looked over the rope as though sizing it up, but Jade blanched. "No way. Absolutely not. I'm not doing it."

Her teammates turned to look at her, completely bewildered by her emphatic refusal. "Why not?" Aurum asked her.

Seeing the three girls all staring at her, Jade looked at the ground and mumbled something.

"Sorry, say that again?" Skye prodded.

Jade peeked up at them as she repeated, in a barely audible tone, "I'm afraid of heights."

Aurum, Indie, and Skye all exchanged startled glances. Aurum was the first to find her voice. "Since _when_? Dad taught you how to climb trees same as the rest of us, and you were pretty good at it."

Jade turned her head to the left and right to make sure nobody could overhear the conversation. In a low voice, she began, "A month before the semester started, Mom and I got called out to a village that was having a Nevermore problem. We split up, and after we'd each taken out a few, one got the jump on me. It grabbed me from behind, and carried me up high before I could do anything. I was ten yards up when it decided it didn't like me whacking it in the face, and it dropped me. The fall broke my aura, and it was on me before I had time to breathe."

She paused a moment to push back the right sleeve of her t-shirt, revealing a series of parallel scars on her shoulder that looked like they continued onto her upper back. "If Mom hadn't shown up when she did, I'd be dead right now. That's why I'm afraid of heights. I only made it through getting _launched off a freaking cliff_ during initiation because Mom tossed me out of a bunch of trees so I could practice my landing strategy. I just… shut down and let instinct take over."

The others were all shocked into silence. They most assuredly would have asked about the scars if they'd noticed, but Jade was incredibly self-conscious about her figure, and never changed in front of them.

"That's… intense," Skye finally remarked. "But… if you want, we can help you through this."

Jade reluctantly nodded.

Skye smiled. "Good. We'll start small, then work our way up." She gave a slight smirk. "Literally. Now…" She pointed up at the clock on the wall. "I just realized how hungry I am. It's after five. Let's go eat; we can start on this tomorrow."

After an uneventful dinner and an evening spent working on homework, Indie carefully set her alarm for six-thirty the next morning. She was _done_ being the weakest link in this chain, but if she wanted to improve, she'd have to practice every chance she got. If that meant getting up an hour earlier every day, so be it. She breathed a silent sigh of relief that at least she wasn't struggling academically, but after Aurum turned off the lights, she acknowledged the fact that they all had some work to do…

 **A bit of a time skip here, but I needed to move the story along. As for the new characters: "tanso" means "bronze" in Filipino, and his last name requires no explanation. Scarletta's first name is also pretty obvious, and her last name means "tower" in Portuguese. Like Indie, she's based off of one of my favorite characters from another series; if you've ever read anything by Tamora Pierce, you'll no doubt recognize who I'm talking about. ;)**

 **On a related note, Indie channels the character I based her off in a few different ways. Zarya Moonwolf has the alter ego of Mysticon Ranger, and her weapon in that form is a bow and arrows. I took the name of Crescent Ranger from this (and Crescent Rose, of course). Indie's Beowolf plushie is another reference. Wolves are very important to Zarya (it's the source of her power as well as part of her name), so I decided to work that into the character as well.**

 **Also, I wondered what the headmasters of the schools** _ **do**_ **when there's an uneven number of new students enrolling. I decided on this explanation: that they offer a place to the top student at one of the junior combat schools and have them enroll a year early, although the students have the right to refuse.**

 **Isn't it crazy how characters take on cute little quirks you never meant to give them? Indie's love of climbing was** _ **not**_ **something I'd originally planned. Neither was Jade's artistic talent. But they totally evolved in my head.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	7. Celebrations

**I got lucky with this chapter. Everything seemed to work out exactly how I wanted it to right away and it needed very little editing. Enjoy!**

 **I own nothing except my OCs.**

 **Celebrations**

Each day for the next three weeks, Indie got up at six thirty, quietly dressed in her workout clothes, and sneaked out of the dorm to get some training at the gym before breakfast. She was careful not to overwork herself, switching between punching the sandbag, working on her stance, and practicing some aura-manipulation tricks, and she was improving, or at least her stamina was. It now took twenty minutes to exhaust herself at the bag, rather than ten. It was Monday again and she was taking a sip from her water bottle after trying to hold her stance for five minutes, when she heard a voice behind her say, "So this is what you've been up to in the mornings. I was wondering about that."

Indie turned to see the rest of her team standing behind her; Skye was the one who'd spoken. "I told you I was serious about improving and not wanting to be the weakest link anymore. The only way to get better is practice."

Jade cocked her head, considering Indie's words. "True, but how will you know if you're actually improving if you keep hitting things that can't hit back? Come on, let's see what you've got." She punctuated this statement by making a "come at me" gesture.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

They turned to look at Aurum, who'd been uncharacteristically silent until now. She pointed up at the clock on the wall. "We've got a half hour before class starts, and we still have to eat and change into our uniforms."

Indie looked the tiniest bit relieved at Aurum's statement. Jade pointed at her. "Don't think this means you're in the clear. I still wanna fight you myself and see if you've improved any."

The conversation turned to more mundane topics as they headed back to their dorm, changed, and wolfed down their breakfast. They entered History with only a minute to spare.

"Team SAIJ, nice of you to join us. You are technically on time, but please try not to cut it so close in the future."

"Sorry, Doctor Oobleck," the four chorused as they took their seats.

"Now, where did we leave off last class…?"

Jade tuned out most of the class after he said that. And then did the same in Field Medicine. And Theory of Aura. And most of Grimm Studies. It was only when she heard Professor Trace say "Miss Xiao Long!" that she started paying attention. "Yes, sir?"

From the snickers that followed her response, it hadn't been the first time he'd said her name. "Miss Xiao Long, would you kindly demonstrate your technique for incapacitating a swarm of Lancers for your classmates?"

She'd noticed the box at the front of the room when she'd entered, but since Professor Trace had his students look over and then kill various Grimm in half his classes, she hadn't paid it much attention beyond wondering what kind of Grimm it was and why it wasn't in a cage like usual. The container was only about the size of a refrigerator, but if there was a swarm of Lancers inside… They would have to be fairly small. _Seriously, though? He must have paid a lot to get them here from Mistral. The guy **really** knows how to liven up a class._ Jade carefully attached a cartridge of fire Dust to both halves of Lu Xise, then made her way to the front of the room.

Once she'd taken up her stance across from the box, the professor erected the hard light barrier that would prevent any flying objects from making their way into the rows of students, then quickly sliced the front off the box. Jade took in the approaching swarm, then swung into her first strike. With fire Dust powering her weapons, she was able to take out three of the things only by making solid contact. As she'd suspected, these specimens were small, only about the size of cats, which meant that they evaporated pretty easily on contact with flames; all she had to do was hit them hard enough.

The rest of the swarm was apparently smarter than the first few. Instead of flying directly at Jade, they started circling, making it harder for her to land powerful enough hits. _All right, you wanna do this the hard way? Fine by me._ Jade began spinning in place, following the movements of the swarm. After she'd built up some momentum, she extended her arms out from her body, allowing the tonfa to create flaming arcs in the air.

One Lancer had zeroed in on her while she made her adjustments, and got caught up in the inferno. She didn't even need to hit it; the fire did the job all by itself. She was starting to get dizzy, though, and carefully allowed her momentum to come to a halt.

Apparently thinking that her lack of movement meant that she was easy prey, the remaining bugs started approaching. _Big mistake—for you._ She still had plenty of aura left; they'd have to come at her all at once if they wanted to take her down at this point.

Flicking her arms up, Jade managed to nail two of the things that had tried to ambush her from above. They dissolved into shadow, leaving only four more. At this point, Jade went on the offensive, chasing them down and whacking them one by one with her still-flaming tonfa. She dispatched the last one and then turned to the professor.

"Very good, Miss Xiao Long! Please take your seat." Jade did so while Professor Trace turned to the class. "As you can see, students, flame is _extremely_ effective against Lancers and other insectoid Grimm species. In combination with brute force, this swarm never stood a chance in this fight. Miss Xiao Long, have you encountered Lancers before?"

"Yes, sir," Jade replied. "Last year, when I was in Mistral visiting some friends of Mom's. We only had to fight a few, but they were a lot bigger than these."

"And yet you survived. Remember, class, Lancers are most commonly found in Anima, but there have been colonies found along the eastern coast of Sanus as well. Solitas seems to be too cold for them." He chuckled. "I can't say as I blame them. For your next assignment, I want a report on the typical habitat, behavior, and physical characteristics of this type of Grimm. You have two weeks to complete it." As if to underscore his words, the bell rang. "Class dismissed; see you all tomorrow!"

xxxxx

The rest of the school day was uneventful, although Indie was thrilled that she'd managed to hold her own against Zelty in a fight. The boy had eventually defeated her, but she'd lasted a lot longer than she ever had before, and lowered his aura by a good margin before getting eliminated. The morning workout sessions were definitely working. Aurum was saying that maybe she'd join in tomorrow, when they entered their dorm room and she caught sight of a small box sitting on her bunk.

"What it that?"

Skye glanced at it, eyebrows raised. "I know how you can find out."

Aurum approached the box cautiously and gave it a few pokes, half expecting this to be another of Jade's pranks. Nothing happened, and she felt a little foolish. "I didn't order anything, did you? Help me see if there's an address; it must've been delivered here by mistake."

A muffled choking sound came from behind her. Turning, she saw Jade and Indie both trying not to crack up—and clearly failing. Aurum put her hands on her hips and glared at them. "This _is_ a prank! I knew it."

"It's… it's not a prank," Jade managed to choke out between snickers.

Skye went over and picked up the box off Aurum's bed. "Aurum, did you seriously forget your own birthday?"

Aurum, who'd been in constant motion since entering the room, stopped so suddenly it brought to mind the time she'd run smack into one of Skye's glyphs during training. "It's… my birthday?"

Now Skye was snickering too. "Tomorrow. You can open it now, though; it's from us."

"And how about we all go into Vale this weekend? Visit the arcade, grab some dinner…" Indie added.

"I heard there's a new bookstore that opened up last year," Jade put in. "I've been wanting to check it out, and I bet the rest of you would like it, too."

"But it's whatever you want," Skye quickly interjected. "The birthday girl gets first choice."

Aurum blinked at them. "How long have you been planning all this?"

Jade smirked. "Two weeks. Go on, open it!"

Aurum turned her attention to the package now sitting on Skye's desk. "I like the idea of going into Vale. You said this is from you all?"

The others nodded. Skye added, "I'm sure you'll be getting some other gifts shipped to you over the next week or so, right?"

Indie frowned. "Well, Ruby is terrible at remembering birthdays. If my parents send you anything, it'll probably be pretty late."

"Mom's in Vacuo right now," Jade added. "She'll get you something cool, no doubt, but shipping takes a while. Same with anything your grandparents might ship from Menagerie."

"Are you gonna open that?" Skye prodded. "It's not there to look pretty."

Aurum shrugged, then used Aurora Blaze to slice through the tape on top of the box. The top popped open, and she pulled out a package of chocolate and a hand-drawn picture of herself in a comic-book style. "Oh, this is awesome!" She held up the picture. "Wow, Jade, you're super talented. I love it; I'm putting it up right away."

Jade looked flattered.

"Don't worry, I won't eat it all at once," Aurum added, holding up the chocolate. "I'll savor it a while. And that's a definite yes on going to Vale his weekend." Her face grew somewhat thoughtful. "Actually, there's something I've been wanting to do for a while…"

xxxxx

Once Saturday rolled around, the teens piled into the weekend airship shuttle that would take them into Vale. Jade was careful to sit in the very middle, as far away from the windows as she could possibly get. The twenty-minute ride was smooth, and before they knew it, they were clustered around a map listing _Fun Things to Do in the Kingdom of Vale._

"Birthday girl gets first choice," Skye declared. "No complaining."

A devious smile lit up Aurum's face. "Follow me."

As the Faunus girl led the way through the streets of Vale, she mentally counted out the Lien she had on her, hoping it would be enough. She finally stopped in front of a nice storefront in the commercial part of town. "Right here."

Skye stopped in her tracks. "Absolutely not."

Indie and Jade turned to their team leader in confusion; after all, Skye had been the one to say that they weren't allowed to complain. The heiress ignored them. "Aurum, you are _not_ getting a tattoo." She pointed up at the sign, which read _Artisan Designs_ and below it in smaller letters _Tattoos and Piercings._

"I don't want a tattoo!" Aurum protested as she opened the door. Skye was about to breathe a sigh of relief when her teammate added, "I'm getting my ears pierced!" She flicked her left ear for emphasis.

Skye groaned. "Aunt Blake is gonna kill me." Despite her protests, she followed them into the shop.

"Uhh… why would she kill you?" Indie wanted to know.

"Because, as team leader, it's my responsibility to ensure my teammates don't do anything foolish," Skye shot back.

Aurum shrugged. "Didn't you say 'no complaining about my choice'? And I won't let Mom kill you."

"Come on, Skye, don't be a downer," Jade broke in.

"I'm going to regret this, I know I am," Skye muttered.

The woman at the counter had been watching them argue with an amused expression. Aurum took another step forward. "I'd like a cute pair of earrings."

The attendant—her name tag read "Mahogany"—looked her up and down for a minute before replying, "Gotta have a parent or guardian with you."

Aurum shook her head. "I'm eighteen."

Mahogany paused a moment. "I'm gonna need to see some ID."

"Oh, sure." Aurum fished her scroll out of her pocket. She flipped through the functions for a moment before holding it up, proudly displaying her Beacon student ID. Mahogany studied it, then smiled. "Rookie Huntress? Nice. Okay, I just need you to fill out some stuff for me, then you can pick out some earrings and we can get to it." She handed Aurum a scroll that had the company logo on the back, then went through a door into another room.

Aurum settled onto the couch in the corner before flipping open the scroll and beginning to fill out the information required. Name, address, emergency contact… standard stuff. The others watched her for a moment. It was Indie who asked, "How long have you been planning this?"

"A while," Aurum replied. "I did all the research I needed to ahead of time. It'll cost between twenty-five and forty Lien, depending on which earrings I choose, and there's some treatment I have to do for a while afterward, but it's not much."

Mahogany had returned, with a pad of small yellow stickers. She glanced over at Aurum. "All set? We use these stickers to get the placement of the earrings right. Pick out whichever ones you want."

It only took Aurum about thirty seconds to point to a pair of small gold hoops. Mahogany grinned at her. "Good choice! Those'll look awesome on you." She carefully placed a sticker on each of Aurum's ears, then held up a small hand mirror. "Does that look even to you?" Aurum turned the mirror in her hands for a few seconds before nodding.

When Mahogany picked up a small machine and fed the earrings into it, Indie looked away queasily. "I don't think I can watch this."

It was only a minute later that she heard Mahogany saying, "You're all set! Now come on over to the counter so I can ring you out." She turned around cautiously, but Aurum was already hopping out of the chair and walking over.

"Okay, so that's fifteen for the piercing and twelve for the earrings. Make sure you use that spray every single day—" she handed over a small bottle. "—and those stickers should dissolve completely in a few more minutes. You're good to go, and thanks for coming!"

Outside, Aurum twitched her ears back and forth, showing off the gold hoops. They caught the sunlight and shone brightly.

"Okay, I had my doubts, but those look great," Skye admitted.

Aurum smirked. "I told you."

xxxxx

For the rest of the day, they walked around Vale. They bought sandwiches from a cart for lunch, checked out the bookstore Jade had mentioned earlier, and even did some shopping. Indie tried on a hot-pink wig in a joke shop, which had her teammates doubled over with laughter. Skye was interested to see a replica of Myrtenaster in a toy store. She pulled out her scroll and snapped a photo, then texted it to her mom.

Around four, Aurum started saying she was hungry. She suggested pizza, and the others all thought that sounded perfect. Between the four of them, they polished off two large pies, and when the server—a woman in her forties named Poppy— came to ask if they were done, she surveyed them with interest.

"You from Beacon?"

Aurum looked around at her teammates before replying. "Are we that obvious?"

Poppy smirked at them. "Call it a hunch. In that case, it's a fifteen percent student discount. I'll go bring that out for you."

Skye brought out her credit card. "It's on me."

Indie frowned. "You don't have to do that."

Skye raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you offering? Because Aurum's almost out of cash, and Jade doesn't have a credit card. Besides, it's easier this way; we don't have to split the check."

Indie conceded the point with a shrug. Skye handed over her card when Poppy brought the check out.

The airship shuttle only ran twice a day, but the ground shuttles ran every hour, and there was a short debate on whether to stay in Vale until the last one of the evening, or to take the next one back and try to get some homework done. It ended up a tie, with Skye and Indie wanting to head back right away, and Jade and Aurum voting to stay. Since the whole reason they were here in the first place was for Aurum's birthday, Skye reluctantly decided that the cat girl would get the deciding vote—which, of course, meant that they were staying.

They fooled around in town for few more hours, but finally made their way to the shuttle stop. There was a city bus terminal across the street; two guys who looked a few years older than them were standing there. Team SAIJ didn't pay them any attention until one of them shouted across the street, "Hey, Kittycat, wanna go out sometime? I know a great seafood place!"

He was clearly trying to be smooth, and failing miserably; he was just as clearly drunk. Aurum wasn't sure if he was seriously hitting on her or not.

The guy's friend called out, "Whatsa matter—cat got your tongue?" proving he was just as drunk as the other one, if not more so. The first guy obviously thought that was hilarious—he broke into high-pitched giggling.

Aurum felt her face heating up. She might let her family get away with cat jokes, but not a drunk loser like this. Before she could do anything about it, though, Skye drew her saber and pointed it at the idiots. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO HER?!"

The first guy swayed on his feet, but managed to stay upright before answering, "I wasn't talkin' to _you_ , Ice Queen."

"Oh, shit," Jade muttered. That was mild coming from her—Yang knew plenty of colorful language and had never bothered censoring herself around her daughter—but Aurum definitely agreed with the sentiment. Skye usually managed to keep her temper under control, but two things consistently set her off—seeing her friends getting bullied, and being referred to as "Ice Queen." Things were about to get real ugly for this guy.

Skye's eyes flashed dangerously. Before the losers could move or say anything, she was across the street nearly as fast as Aurum herself would have been. She'd switched Gladiola's setting to fire Dust, and was currently drawing bright red glyphs in midair, surrounding the drunk idiots. "NOBODY CALLS ME ICE QUEEN—NOT WITHOUT GETTING BURNED!"

"Whoa, hey, break it up! None of that here!"

A bouncer had emerged from the bar behind them, presumably where the morons had spent the evening. "Look, if you all want to have a fight, take it somewhere else, or I'm calling the cops."

Skye let her glyphs fade a bit, though they didn't disappear completely. By this time, the rest of SAIJ had made it across the street. Skye pointed to Aurum. "These pieces of Grimm bait were harassing my friend here. Give me one good reason why I _shouldn't_ light them up."

The bouncer looked her over. "Well, for one thing, they're not Huntsmen. They don't have their auras unlocked. That right there makes it an unfair fight, without even taking into account that there's four of you and two of them, and they're drunk and unarmed." He sighed. "Look, I can report them for disorderly conduct. You four should get back to Beacon—the shuttle should be here in less than five minutes. I'll take care of this, and see about getting them suspended from my bar. This isn't the first time I've had customers harass girls that are waiting for the shuttle. They're usually too drunk to realize that any girl waiting at that particular stop is a Huntress that could carve them up if she wanted."

Skye narrowed her eyes for a moment, considering, then let the glyphs fade out of existence as she carefully holstered her sword. The bouncer nodded. "Thanks. I'll have the cops deal with these lunkheads for you. The Huntsman academies do way more for society than they ever will, and making fun of Faunus just makes it worse. I'm sorry they bothered you, miss." That final statement had been directed at Aurum, who nodded. He disappeared back inside a moment later.

The shuttle turned around the corner at that moment. After it parked and they all got on board, Jade leaned back in her seat and groaned. "Boy… _that_ was an interesting day."

 **And so here we see that while there's a lot less discrimination against Faunus, it unfortunately still exists. Those losers definitely got off easy. One thing I haven't really showcased yet is Skye's quick temper. It's taken her a while to get it under control, but you don't wanna make her angry!**

 **Aurum will not be wearing her bow anymore. I've been wanting to give her earrings ever since I first started writing this, but earrings would totally clash with the bow, so I decided she's replacing it.**

 **In case you're having trouble keeping track, it's now nearing the end of March. I've decided that for simplicity's sake, the Beacon school year starts in February and the first semester last until June, then there's a two-week break before classes start up again and the school year ends in mid-October.**

 **This fic will be put on temporary hiatus after this. I had so hoped to make it through the first arc at least, but my professors have decided to be cruel and assign several different projects all at once. Unfortunately, schoolwork comes first. I already have the entire first arc planned out, as well as most of the second arc, but fanfic will need to take a backseat for the next month or so.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	8. Family Reunion

**I'm ba-aaack! Life's a little less crazy at the moment, so I decided to post this new chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

 **I do not own RWBY. I am just playing around with the characters and universe.**

 **Family Reunion**

Team SAIJ spent the rest of the weekend catching up on the homework they hadn't done on Saturday. It wasn't much—the professors hadn't given them much academic work this time—but Skye insisted that the team do its best and not simply blow off assignments. They'd finished it all by the time Monday rolled around.

Jade winced as Professor Vulpine handed back her latest essay in Theory of Aura. There was a big red "71" at the top, so she hadn't technically failed, but that wasn't the kind of grade she was proud of. The professor had a sympathetic expression as she remarked, "You know, Miss Xiao Long, there are people who can help you with this. Try the library sometime. I hate to see such a bright student fall behind because of poor writing skills—and that's really the only place you're struggling."

The green-haired girl took the essay in silence, but dutifully took out her pen and notebook for the rest of the class.

In combat class, Professor Scarlatina announced that they would not be doing the standard sparring today. "Instead, Professor Trace and I have put together something fun for you. Follow me out to the lawn, please."

Once outside, it was easy to see what the training challenge was—there were about a dozen cages on the grass, each containing two or three Grimm of the more common species. Aurum could see Beringels, Creeps, Ursai, Deathstalkers, Boarbatusks, and a few large King Taijitus. No Nevermores, though—nothing that could fly, but plenty of opposition. Headmistress Goodwitch was standing nearby, with her scroll out.

"Your task," Professor Trace announced, "is to kill them all. Any attack combination is fair game. We will not interfere unless one of you has your aura enter the red; otherwise, you are on your own." With that statement, Professor Scarlatina flicked something on her scroll and the aura readouts for all of the first-years were projected in the air. "And… begin!"

Professor Trace used his own scroll to unlock the cages remotely, and the Grimm spilled out onto the field.

Aurum locked eyes with Indie and joined the two halves of Aurora Blaze together. Indie ran her way and jumped into the air, landing on the flat surface. Aurum launched her into the air and immediately folded Aurora Blaze into their pistol forms, taking potshots at a Beringel that had started swinging its arms wildly. It retreated after a few water Dust bullets caught it full in the face.

By this point, Indie's three arrows had each buried themselves in the eye of a Grimm—one in each head of a King Taijitu, and the third in a large Creep that had tried to circle around and attack Zelty. Each arrow was infused with lightning Dust, and the monsters exploded in shadow. The musician turned and saluted her briefly before returning to the fight. Aurum smiled—Indie's trajectory manipulation semblance might not be flashy, but she never missed a shot.

Skye flicked Gladiola's chamber to ice Dust—it might not be her preferred element, but she was making an effort to practice with types other than fire. Drawing a glyph in the air, she froze three Ursai in their tracks, which were easily picked off by others. Cerulea decapitated one with her khopesh, Esme shot another with a few earth Dust bullets, and Rue cracked the third over the head with NightShade's crystal. They turned to find new targets as the old ones disintegrated.

Zelty, facing off against a Beowolf, placed his daggers together in an "X" shape and scraped them against each other. The resulting burst of sound was _far_ louder than it had any right to be. Kage and Aurum both shrieked and clapped their hands to their ears—then Aurum let out an even louder scream of pain as her hands came into contact with her still-healing piercings. Zelty looked _extremely_ embarrassed and took his weapons back into their combat stance, yelling, "Sorry!" as he stabbed at the stunned Beowolf.

Kage recovered quickly and returned to the fight, spinning the large staff in his hand. Aurum, distracted by the pain in her ears, didn't notice a large Deathstalker charging toward her…

xxxxx

The young man opened the door and got off the transport, looking around queasily. He'd sweet-talked his way onto the supply run, but the quickest way to Beacon was on the truck that drove up the side of the cliff, and all the switchbacks had made him dizzy. He was _definitely_ taking the airship from now on.

Well, he'd made it to the school, and that was the whole reason he'd come into Vale in the first place. Now, to find the person he'd come here looking for…

The few people who passed him didn't give him a second glance. He supposed his attire—consisting of a black leather jacket over a light turquoise t-shirt, dark jeans, and black sneakers— _could_ be considered a combat outfit. His longish black hair fell into his face, stopping just short of his turquoise eyes. There was also a wide silver cuff bracelet on his left wrist, with a large crystal on it in the same shade of blue as his eyes and shirt, but the most noticeable thing about his appearance were the black cat ears poking out of his hair.

He walked slowly, taking in the buildings and the landscaping as he went.

A scream drew his attention around a corner, where a fight was taking place. It was obviously some kind of combat exercise, since there were people standing around watching a handful of students battle a horde of Grimm. A girl dressed in black and gold was being backed into a corner by a Deathstalker, her cat ears pinned to her head. The fight looked like it was—

 _Wait, cat Faunus wearing black and gold?!_

Without hesitation, the boy ran toward the fight.

"Leave her alone!"

xxxxx

Aurum desperately slashed at the bug-like Grimm that was poking at her with its pincers. She got the feeling the thing was enjoying this. The _single_ drawback of having a versatile weapon like Aurora Blaze was that it only held a few bullets. She'd used them all up earlier, and with this thing cornering her, she couldn't take the time to reload. Her aura _had_ to be getting close to the red.

She spared a split second to try and activate her semblance and escape, but the monster was onto her. It raised a claw, aimed, and brought it down—and bounced off a glowing blue barrier that had _not_ been there a minute ago.

Aurum kept her weapons at the ready, but took the opportunity to move out of the Deathstalker's line of sight. Her classmates were taking care of it now—Rhoda had severed its stinger with her sword, and a number of weapons were glowing red with fire energy.

This Deathstalker had been the last of the Grimm horde, and Aurum glanced around for the source of the force field, already guessing who it was. When she saw the boy standing at the edge of the field, his body glowing the same turquoise as the energy field that had saved her, she nodded. _I knew it._

Professor Scarlatina had already spotted the intruder. "Young man, I do not appreciate when someone interrupts my class—"

Aurum had reached them by now and slugged the boy in the shoulder. "What. The. Hell?"

Before he could answer, the headmistress broke in. "Miss Belladonna, you know this individual?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Aurum sighed before turning to the rest of the class. "Everybody, this is my twin brother, Aqua Belladonna." Aqua was taller and less tan than his sister, but between the black hair and cat ears, there was an obvious resemblance. However, what really gave away their relation was the identical exasperated expressions the two were regarding one another with. Aurum scowled at him and added, "I had that under control, you know. You didn't need to butt in."

Aqua raised an eyebrow at her. "Your aura level says otherwise. Here, let me." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. For a moment, both of their auras became visible, glowing turquoise and gold respectively, and everyone saw the meter labeled "Aurum Belladonna" tick back up until it was just over half.

Goodwitch muttered something under her breath, but the two cat Faunus both caught something about "…certainly _bicker_ like siblings." Then she asked in a more normal tone, "How do you do that? Your semblance is the force field you just created, but now you're recharging another person's aura?"

"Oh , the aura sharing?" Aqua shrugged. "That's just a twin thing."

Her eyebrows went up, nearly reaching her hairline. "I _see_. Well." She turned back to the class. "I came here to review your performance today. Well done, all of you. Opponents like these are not easy to defeat, but you did so quite handily." She looked around for a moment. "Miss Nyx, in my office, please."

With that, the headmistress turned to leave. Rhoda looked apprehensive, but followed.

Before Aurum could ask her brother what in _Remnant_ he thought he was doing here, Zelty was in front of her. "I'm so, _so_ sorry! I swear, I had no idea my semblance would affect you like that! Seriously, are you okay?"

She managed to smile at him. "I'm fine. Really. It was more the earrings than anything else."

Zelty still looked like he was mentally kicking himself, but nodded and walked away. Aqua leaned over and said in a conversational tone, "About the earrings—Mom's totally gonna kill you."

Aurum smirked at him. "And Skye was so sure Mom was going to kill _her_."

Aqua looked bewildered. "Why would Mom kill Skye?"

Aurum drew herself up imperiously and, in her best impression of the heiress, declared, "As team leader, it's my job to make sure my teammates don't do anything foolish." She noticed that Aqua's grin had widened a fraction and sighed. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

"Yep."

"Of course." Aurum turned around to see the rest of her team standing there. Skye had one eyebrow raised and was smirking slightly.

"So you think I sound like that, do you?"

"Not _all_ the time," Jade replied. "Only when you're imitating your mom."

Skye's mouth dropped open.

Cerulea, looking somewhat amused, interjected with, "Hey, why don't we all have a seat in the courtyard? I dunno what Goodwitch wanted with Rhoda, but I'm staying out here 'til she gets back." Turning to Aqua, she added, "I'm Cerulea Gale. Team CROM." She stuck out a hand.

"Nice to meet you." Aqua's handshake lasted a few seconds too long. Cerulea yanked her hand back and glared at him.

"Don't get any ideas. I like girls, not guys, and besides, I'm already seeing someone." Without waiting for a response she marched off in the direction she'd indicated a minute ago. Team SAIJ—and Aqua—glanced between each other for a minute, then shrugged and followed.

All of the first-years, except Rhoda, were making themselves comfortable on the grass. Kage plunked himself down on the ground right next to Aqua. "So, do you like movies?"

Aqua glanced around for a minute, then focused on the wolf Faunus. "Are you asking me out? Because I'm flattered, but I'm not into guys."

"Awww…" Kage looked so disappointed that Aurum couldn't help giggling. She reached out and flicked him in the head.

"What, hitting on me didn't work, so now you're hitting on my brother?"

Kage groaned. "For the hundredth time, I wasn't hitting on you! Believe me, if I was, you'd know it." He grinned cockily.

Aqua snorted. "Well, I'm still flattered. But… if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know what made you decide to enroll at Beacon."

Esme raised her eyebrows at him. "What's it matter?"

"I'm naturally curious." Aqua gave his signature disarming grin.

The courtyard grew quiet for a moment as all the students thought about it. Cerulea was the first to respond. "Well, I've wanted to be a Huntress since I was six. I watched my uncle—who was totally my hero even before that—beat up a King Taijitu that was attacking my brother. There was no question in my mind after that, so I enrolled at Shadow Academy when I was old enough."

Aqua looked interested. "So you're from Vacuo? What made you choose Beacon over Shade?"

Cerulea smirked. "I was sick of the desert."

"Well, you came to the right place. Vale's pretty mild," Rue broke in. "And I totally get what you're saying about the desert; I lived in Menagerie for four years."

At that, all four Faunus present turned to stare at her and seemed to be trying to come up with words. Rue shook her head at them. "Don't go jumping to conclusions. I'm human. But my parents were part of the engineering team that built the CCT Tower in Kuo Kuana, so we had to live there. It was definitely an adjustment—I'm from Atlas—but I went to school there for the entire time we lived there."

She focused her gaze on the Belladonna twins for a moment. "I actually have your grandfather to thank for that. A lot of parents weren't too thrilled with a human student enrolling in the school, but he insisted that since I was technically a resident of Menagerie at that time, I had the same right to an education as any other kid. We moved back to Atlas just in time for me to start at Alsuis North, but I decided Beacon suited me better than Atlas Academy. Cuter uniforms, too." That got a good laugh.

"I'm from Atlas, too," Zelty volunteered. "But my parents are losers, and I wanted to do something more with my life. Something noble. I thought coming to Vale would put enough distance between me and them."

Esme was staring off into the distance. "I'm not sure what made me choose Beacon over Haven after I graduated from Sanctum, but I knew I was going to become a Huntress. No one in my family has ever attended a Huntsman academy before, but Beacon just feels right to me."

Aubergine lit up at that. "I transferred from Mistral, too! I went to Temple, though, not Sanctum. My family moved there from Vale when I was ten, so enrolling at Beacon was like coming home."

"Well, I'm from Vale," Saphed offered. "Born and raised here, went to Flare—Kage went there too, but we weren't exactly close."

Kage was nodding. "I want to see as much of the world and meet as many people as I can."

Saphed tilted his head. "I just want to support my family. My mom and I were in a real rut, financially, until she married my stepdad. We're still not that well off—I had to find someone to sponsor me. Huntsmen make good money, so I can help out my family without having to worry. Tell me something, though: you're Aurum's twin, but you're not enrolled at Beacon. What _do_ you do?"

Aqua smiled thoughtfully. "I'm going to be an engineer. I start at Vale Tech next year."

"I did it! I did it!" Everyone looked up to see Rhoda barreling toward them. Her normally fair skin was flushed with excitement, making her freckles nearly disappear. "I'm off probation!"

A cheer went up. Cerulea went in to high-five her teammate.

Aqua regarded the pink-haired girl. "Why were you on probation?"

"Because she didn't go to a primary combat school before applying to Beacon," Cerulea replied. "If someone who hasn't gone to a primary school applies at an upper-level academy, usually they get put on probation until their combat scores improve."

Zelty held out a hand to Rhoda for a fist bump. "Good job. Guess it's just me left, huh?"

Aqua glanced at Jade. "You made it off probation already?"

Jade shook her head, grinning. "Nope. My combat scores were good enough that I was never on probation in the first place." She paused for a moment, and her smile disappeared. "I don't wanna talk about my written grades, though."

"What are you doing here, anyway, Aqua?" Skye asked.

The boy grinned. "Came to see my little sister."

Aurum scowled. "I am not your _little_ sister. I'm older than you."

Aqua rolled his eyes. "Yeah, by a whole twelve minutes. Big deal. Besides, I'm taller than you." He reached out to ruffle his sister's hair, being careful of her earrings. Aurum took a halfhearted swipe at him. "Anyway, Mom and Dad are looking at an apartment in Vale. They're planning on coming by this evening."

xxxxx

True to their word, Blake and Sun showed up just after six. The whole team was happy to see them, and immediately started talking over each other as they headed for the dorm. As they entered the room, Blake raised her eyebrows. "Huh… they definitely didn't have bunk beds when I was a student at Beacon."

Aurum giggled. "I know; you had to make your own."

"Yeah, Blake, you ever think it was because of your team that they put in bunk beds after rebuilding the dorms?" Sun suggested.

"Hey." Blake was trying to sound stern, but she was fighting a smile as she spoke. "Making bunk beds was Ruby's idea."

"But you still went along with it," Skye pointed out.

"True. Weiss was the only holdout," Blake conceded. She took a seat next to Skye on the girl's lower bunk. Jade, Indie, and Aurum had all squished onto Jade's bunk across from them. Aqua sat on top of the dresser while Sun pulled up a chair. Blake pulled out a package from her backpack. "Happy birthday, kiddo. I'm sorry we couldn't be here for it." She eyed her daughter's earrings as she handed over the package. "Though I see you found a way to celebrate by yourself."

Aurum twitched her ears back and forth, showing off the gold hoops. Blake smiled and shook her head. "I'd never do it myself, but they look good on you."

The conversation devolved into mindless chatter until a knock sounded at the door. Skye frowned. "Who could that be?" She went over and opened it anyway.

Zelty was standing there, looking somewhat embarrassed. Skye took a moment to admire his new combat outfit again—he wore a cream-colored button-down with long sleeves and royal blue cuffs, with a black vest over it, and black dress pants and shoes. He also wore a triangular gold pendant on a black cord, and his gold snake pin was displayed on his vest pocket.

"Oh—I didn't realize you still had company. Umm… I'll be quick. I just wanted to ask—" He paused for a moment, steeling himself, then blurted out, "Skye, would you be willing to tutor me? DustApps is the only class I'm doing bad in, and you've got the highest average in the class. Professor Waters said I should ask you."

Skye considered him for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, meet me in the library after combat class tomorrow. Bring your textbook and all the assignments you've gotten back so I can see where you're struggling."

"Thanks," Zelty mumbled. "I really appreciate it." He turned to leave, then stopped for a moment. "Aurum, I'm really sorry—"

"Save it," Aurum interrupted. "You apologized earlier. It's fine."

"What happened?" Blake questioned.

Zelty's embarrassed expression returned. "I used my semblance to amplify a sound-based attack in class. I didn't think about how it would affect Aurum and Kage."

Aurum rolled her eyes. "I _told_ you, it was mostly the earrings."

"Well, I'm still sorry. I'll be more careful from now on." Zelty turned and left, for real this time.

Blake stood up. "We should probably get going too."

Aurum hugged her parents and brother before they left, then turned to the gift they'd given her: a black leather jacket with gold trim, and her emblem on the cuffs. "It's perfect."

 **I know he had a cameo in Chapter 1, but I wanted to properly introduce Aurum's twin brother. He's more of an intellectual and has no interest in combat, but is also kind of a flirt. His appearance and personality are based somewhat off the Dino Thunder Red Ranger, Connor. As for the aura sharing, I thought that would be a cool ability for twins to have. The downside is that they can only restore each other's aura at the cost of their own.**

 **Since "Signal" and "Beacon" mean the same thing, I thought it would be appropriate for another primary combat school in Vale to be called "Flare Academy." Same with "Temple Academy"—it goes with "Haven" and "Sanctum." Vacuo has never had a school other than Shade Academy mentioned, so I thought that "Shadow" would be a good name for the primary school.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	9. Halfway Point

**I do not own RWBY.**

 **Halfway Point**

Indie's birthday came two weeks after Aurum's. She let the day pass with little fanfare, though her friends surprised her with the same assortment of gifts they'd given Aurum—a stash of peanut butter cups (her favorite candy), and another of Jade's portraits. This one featured Indie looking like a dark sorcerer from a fantasy novel—her face was not quite obscured by the hood, and her bow was drawn, pointing at the ground.

A package came in from Atlas the next day, addressed to both Aurum and Indie. It contained several pocket-sized Dust vials, half emblazoned with _AB_ and a belladonna lily in frosted glass, and the other half with _IAR_ and a rose and triangle. Weiss had also included a letter, apologizing profusely for being late, but that she hoped they appreciated the customized containers she'd been working on.

Skye smirked when she saw them. "I _knew_ Mom was up to something big." Turning to Jade, she added, "Fifty Lien says she gives us the same thing for our birthdays."

Jade shook her head. "No deal."

Aurum proceeded to fill the vials with various types of powdered Dust and placed them in her skirt pockets. (Combat skirts were the _best_ ; you could sew in as many pockets as you wanted!) Indie was more cautious, carefully considering how much of each type of Dust she used in combat and filling the vials accordingly.

The semester flew by. In what felt like no time at all, it was June and midterm exams were upon them. The knowledge that she'd have to write essays on three out of the five academic exams had Jade freaking out. "Skye, how in Remnant am I supposed to do this?!"

Skye looked over the green-haired girl's shoulder at the practice essay she was working on. Slowly, she replied, "Well, you haven't outright _failed_ any of your essays, right? They've been borderline, but technically still passing. Besides, haven't you been getting help improving your writing? Also, don't forget that the exams aren't _just_ essays; you'll have some multiple choice and short answer questions too, and you're good at those. So that'll bring your grade up."

Jade began knocking her head into the textbook in her hands.

"Well, at least you know what you're doing bad in and doing something about it," Aurum interjected, swiping the textbook. "I just _know_ I'm gonna bomb Field Medicine, and Professor Planis gets all weird when I ask her what I'm doing wrong! I dunno what she's got against me, but it's not helping."

Skye frowned. "It's not just you. She gets weird whenever any of us ask her something."

"Well, I'm mostly worried about our combat exam," Indie added. "What if I haven't improved enough and we all fail?" She shuddered. "What happens then? I'll be known forever as a failure."

"None of us are failing anything," Skye declared. "I won't allow it."

The others snickered at her impression of her mother's imposing tone. "Hey! I'm completely serious!"

Classes ended a week before exams started, giving people time to study. The exams themselves took another week, and then there would be a two week break before the beginning of next semester.

The very first exam was Grimm Studies, a four-hour test, but the only one of the day. Jade steeled herself as she opened the booklet and read the essay question. _Describe the territory, behavior, and attack strategy of Beowolves. Minimum 500 words._ With a sigh, she began writing.

Skye's hand whipped back and forth across the paper as the right words came to mind. Indie wasn't quite as fast, but only because she was making sure to shape each letter perfectly. Aurum would write one sentence, then take a moment to think before scrawling down the next in her usual messy handwriting. Their essays were each finished in two hours. Jade was surprised to see that she was almost done with it herself at that point.

After finishing the essays, the multiple choice and short answer portions of the tests were a breeze. There was still almost an hour to go when Skye stood and walked up to the front of the classroom. She placed her exam booklet on Professor Trace's desk, then returned to her seat and began gathering up her things before leaving.

Indie and Aurum soon followed. Other classmates passed them in the hallway, breathing huge, exaggerated sighs of relief that the first exam was over. Cerulea took a moment to congratulate Skye on being the first to finish, but was interrupted by Rhoda and Jade emerging from the classroom, fist-bumping each other and tiredly cheering themselves on.

Cerulea looked her teammate over before dryly asking, "Rough day?" Rhoda shot a dirty look at her team leader.

"Don't be like that. Seriously, I get that we need to know about the habits of the Grimm we're hunting, but when are we ever going to need to know how to write good essays?"

The last person to emerge from the classroom was Saphed, and he caught the end of the conversation. "You do realize that you'll have to write up a report after every mission you do as professional Huntsmen, right?"

Rhoda stared at him in abject horror, but Jade shook her head. "I've _seen_ those, and they're nothing like what we just had to do. Mostly they're just premade documents and you only have to fill in the blanks." The pink-haired girl visibly relaxed.

"Well, we've got a busy day tomorrow," Cerulea went on. "Field Medicine and History are both two-hour exams, so they scheduled them for the same day."

Jade lit up. "Yay, no essays tomorrow!"

"Yeah, but don't forget we've got DustApps on Wednesday, and Theory of Aura on Thursday. They both have essay portions," Saphed pointed out. With that parting statement, he put his arm around Rhoda and they walked off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Jade's face fell. Aurum laughed. "Come on, let's go get some ice cream."

xxxxx

The Field Medicine exam went smoothly, and although this was the one that Aurum was most nervous about, she still managed to complete it in the allotted two hours. Professor Planis stood at the front of the room and collected the exams as people turned them in, wishing them luck on their remaining tests. Her smile seemed a little more forced as Aurum handed over her booklet, but still congratulated her on finishing the semester.

The first-year students had an hour before they had to be in Doctor Oobleck's classroom for their History test, and all of them crowded into the cafeteria. Jade wolfed down her food and, bored, drew a circle on the table with mustard and began facing off in a game of marbles against Skye, using cherry tomatoes and purple grapes as their playing pieces. The game didn't last long, though; Aurum kept eating the captured marbles.

The History exam was very similar to the Field Medicine one, with multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer portions. This one was easier; Team SAIJ was finished in less than an hour, and was the first team to complete the exam.

Aurum received high fives from her teammates on completing the Field Medicine exam without flinching, and admitted, "That wasn't as hard as I was expecting."

"Well, you did great either way. We should get our grades next week," Skye reminded them.

"More essays tomorrow," Indie teased, poking Jade with her pencil. The bespectacled girl groaned and face-planted on the table.

Aurum reached over and patted the back of her head. Jade raised her head and glared at her, though the overall effect wasn't very intimidating, seeing as how her glasses had been knocked askew when she'd slammed her head into the table.

"Indie, don't tease her," Skye scolded. "Besides, weren't you all worried about the combat exam on Friday?"

Indie's expression changed to one of determination. "Yes—but I'm _going_ to pass it."

"Thatta girl!" Aurum cheered. "You got this!"

xxxxx

The exam for Practical Applications of Dust turned out to be fairly easy. Yes, they still had to write essays, but most of their grades would be based on their practical exam scores. Indie was the first one finished. Aurum wasn't surprised—ever since she was a kid, Indie had had an uncanny ability to know _exactly_ how much Dust she needed to use to achieve a desired effect.

Jade was relieved to find that this essay was only a three-hundred word minimum, and her Dust skills were good enough that she wasn't worried about passing.

Once outside the classroom, they high-fived each other and commiserated about the final test, Theory of Aura.

"Apparently Professor Vulpine uses the same exam every year," Skye volunteered. "That means we should have plenty of opportunity to study."

Jade groaned. "No more. Please, no more essays."

"It's not like you didn't know this would happen," Aurum pointed out. "But the worst is over."

"No, it _isn't_ ," Jade complained. "We'll have to do it all again at the end of the year, and at least once a year until we graduate."

Skye frowned. "Actually, it's only this academic-heavy for first-years. Second-years get Fridays off from classes so they can take short-term missions over the weekends and there's a lot less academic homework involved, third-years have more of an independent study kind of thing that they can work in around missions, and fourth-years are almost never around because they're away on missions most of the time. We won't have any academic work once we're fourth-years."

Jade considered. "Well, I guess that is better than what I thought."

xxxxx

Theory of Aura was their last academic exam. The twelve first-years filed into the classroom, tiredly congratulating each other on surviving the worst of the tests. The only one showing any concern about passing the combat exam was Zelty. Skye hurried to reassure him that his combat skills had improved immensely; she'd been giving him advice on how to improve his fighting style in addition to tutoring him in DustApps. Looking at the two, Jade raised her eyebrows. _Those two have been spending an_ _ **awful**_ _lot of time together lately…_

Professor Vulpine passed around the exam booklets. Jade opened hers up with a sigh. _Last one; I can do this…_

She was sure she'd been working for only a few minutes when Professor Vulpine announced that there was only an hour left to finish the test. Jade looked around. The room was nearly empty; only Saphed and Rhoda were still working on it. _I only_ _ **just now**_ _finished the essay! How will I do the rest of it with only an hour left?_

Her fears were unfounded, though; as she turned back to the front of the booklet, she saw that there was only one page each of multiple choice and fill in the blank questions. She was finished in fifteen minutes. Triumphantly, she carried her test over to Professor Vulpine, and with something of a flourish, set it down on top of the pile. She looked her over and smiled. "Very good, Miss Xiao Long. I look forward to seeing you in my class again."

xxxxx

The combat exam was held on the front lawn. Professor Scarlatina and several second-year students stood near the building. Aurum waved to Tanso and Scarletta, noticing that they stood with a dark-haired boy who was dressed like a skater and a girl with a pink and blond pixie cut wearing an overall-style dress. _Must be their other teammates…_

"For this exam," Professor Scarlatina announced, "you will each be paired up with a second-year student in single combat. Each individual fight will last five minutes. I want to make it clear that losing your match _does not_ mean you fail the test—these students have all had a year of training more than you have, after all. The Headmistress and myself will be evaluating you based on your attack power, strategy, creativity, and so on. Any technique is fair game, since in a real fight against Grimm, you will of course make use of any strategy in order to survive. I have the names of the first-years in here—" she shook a green drawstring bag "—and the second-years in this one."

She held up a bag identical to the other, but in yellow. "Your opponents will be randomly determined. When I call your name, please come up here and select the name of your opponent. After that, the match will begin. I ask that all spectators please stay out of the combat zone. Now…" She opened the green bag and read off the first name. "Rhoda Nyx. Please choose an opponent from this bag."

The pink-haired girl walked up to the professor, with no hint of nervousness in her step, and fished around in the yellow bag for a moment before withdrawing a slip of paper. "Tanso Keyes," she read off.

"Very well. Miss Nyx, Mister Keyes, please take your places."

Tanso fought using a large staff, so he had the advantage of longer reach. However, Aurum had noticed that while Rhoda might not have had all that much formal combat training, she was quick, agile, and observant. She used a fairly basic sword as her primary weapon, but also carried a round shield with a black border and her winged-star emblem in the middle. For this fight, she put the shield on her left arm, and set herself in the "ready" stance, sword pointing toward her opponent at an angle.

"Begin!" Professor Scarlatina commanded.

Rhoda immediately raised her shield and aimed a low sweep at Tanso's legs; the boy had been expecting it, though, and blocked with his staff. He then attempted to swing into an offensive maneuver, but Rhoda had her shield ready and his attack bounced off harmlessly. Neither of their auras had been touched.

"Not bad for a probationer," Tanso remarked, grinning so everyone would know he was kidding. Rhoda took advantage of his distraction to bat his staff aside with her shield, and scored a solid blow to his side. "Whoa!"

Rhoda wasn't done yet; now that she had a few points worth of advantage over him, she continued battering him with blows. Tanso managed to escape by ducking low and dodging to the side, but his aura was now just above half, while Rhoda's was still well in the green.

"All right, enough playing around," Tanso said. As he spoke, he was doing something with his staff—and then it folded over on itself, with the end rotating like a gun barrel. Rhoda's eyes went wide—clearly she hadn't seen that coming—and attempted to retreat, but Tanso opened fire and the pink-haired girl was quickly frozen to the ground, courtesy of a few ice Dust bullets.

"Oh, no," Skye muttered. "This can't be good."

After trying in vain to free herself for a few seconds, Rhoda decided to switch tactics. She spun her shield on her arm, and the entire audience started muttering as the border separated from the rest of the weapon. She quickly snapped it out from herself, revealing it to be a three-foot chain that had been doubled over on itself and melded with the shield. Rhoda collapsed her sword—Jade hadn't realized that did _that_ , either—and attached the chain to it. Now she was holding a whip made of chain on a foot-long hilt. The entire transformation had taken less than thirty seconds.

Aurum stared at the now-slightly-smaller shield and the chain whip. Next to her, Indie was mumbling excitedly about the specs of it and how she _had_ to talk to Rhoda about this soon.

With a single flick of her wrist, Rhoda managed to wrap the chain around Tanso's staff and yank it from his grip. She took a few more swings, until a loud _ding_ sounded, indicating time was up.

"Well done, Miss Nyx! I am very impressed with your improvement. The two of you are free to go, but you are welcome to stay and watch if you like," Professor Scarlatina announced. "Now, for our next match…"

xxxxx

Most of the matches were fairly straightforward after that, although several students revealed that they still had a few tricks up their sleeves. Cerulea shocked everyone by transforming her left hand into stone and using it in conjunction with her khopesh to take out her opponent. After taking a few hits, Aubergine started flickering with purple lightning and she moved a little faster, delivering stronger, more accurate strikes. Zelty might have been worried about passing, but he managed to hold his own; that didn't stop Aurum and Kage from keeping their hands close to their ears in case of another audio assault. Saphed bounded up onto a light post and simply took potshots with his pistols the entire time; his opponent seemed unable to move. She ran out of aura quickly. Rhoda seemed quite pleased with the outcome; she planted a giant victory kiss on him as the surrounding students jeered teasingly.

Outdoors, Skye was able to utilize her glyphs over a wider range. Fuchsia Ray, the pink-and-blonde-haired girl that had been sitting with Tanso and Scarletta earlier, was using a giant axe to swing at her, but Skye's evasive fighting style was a perfect counter for this kind of brute force. A swing here, a little fire Dust there, and the girl was finished.

"Oh, that was _fun_. I love it when someone hands me a surprise like that." Fuchsia stuck out a hand for a high five. Skye slapped it. The older girl was only a bit taller than Skye herself, but her light blue combat boots had _at least_ two-inch heels, so she appeared significantly taller. Her knee-length overall dress was the same color as her boots, a faded denim, and she wore a pink t-shirt under it. She had a fair complexion with gray eyes, wore lipstick and eyeshadow in the same shade of pink as her hair, and several beaded bracelets decorated her right wrist. The stylized emblem of a setting sun was stitched onto the chest pocket of her dress.

"Thanks." Skye posed for a moment as the other girl headed for her teammates.

"Very good, Miss Schnee, but do keep in mind what I've told you about fire Dust. Now for our final matchup…"

Since there were at least twenty second-years, not all of them would have to fight, but apparently this was prime entertainment. Everyone who had fought so far was still around, watching the matches.

"… Indigo Amitola-Rose."

Indie made her way to the front and drew out the name of her opponent. "Usiku Birch."

The professor smiled. "It looks like we have another SAIJ—RUST battle on our hands."

Usiku was the skater kid they'd seen earlier, Tanso and Scarletta's other teammate— _Team RUST_ , Indie thought. She quickly looked him over. Up close, she could see that his messy hair was actually pure black, with a very noticeable cowlick on the right side. His sleeveless royal blue hoodie and black denim shorts were nothing special, but he wore blue vambraces and greaves that resembled the wrist- and knee-pads worn by skaters. High-tech looking black boots that appeared to conceal collapsible wheels completed the look. The greave on his left leg had a small twig and leaf emblazoned on it, in a shade of light green that matched his eyes. He was rather darkly tanned, presumably from spending all his free time skating around campus.

"All right… begin!" the professor announced.

Usiku pulled out a set of nunchaku and began to advance. Indie moved to block with Crescent Ranger, and aimed a kick at her opponent's hand. Usiku faltered for a moment, then regained his balance and tried another strike. Indie had retreated, giving herself enough room to place a Dust-infused arrow to the string and shoot it point-blank at the skater. It detonated on contact, and was revealed to contain both wind and ice Dust.

Indie flicked the lever to let the blades hidden inside each limb spring out, which extended the bow's length by six inches in either direction. Usiku lunged again, this time following it up with a kick, but the ice had slowed his movements. Indie managed to parry his attack and started swinging. She could hear excited murmuring in several voices; clearly her classmates hadn't expected her to do so well when she'd been struggling all semester.

She completely lost track of all time and was astounded to hear the buzzer. "Well done, Miss Amitola-Rose! I'm very pleased with all the progress you've made this semester—"

The professor was cut off by both polite applause and an obnoxious whistle coming from outside the ring of students. Indie shaded her eyes to see two women leaning on the fence: one tall and blonde, the other very well-dressed with white hair. Before she'd fully processed their identities, there was a yell of " _Mom!_ " as Jade and Skye hurtled toward them.

The two women were hugging their daughters tightly as Aurum and Indie approached. Yang let go of Jade to high-five Indie. "Way to go, kid! I knew you had it in you."

Weiss was still searching Skye's face intently. "You look tired… what have I told you about getting enough sleep?"

"Mom!" Skye complained. "It's finals week; nobody's getting any sleep!"

"Except Aurum," Jade pointed out. "At least, if the snores are anything to go by."

"I do not snore," Aurum protested.

"Ahem."

The six women looked up to see Professor Scarlatina standing there with her hand on her hip and her eyebrows raised. "May I point out that this _is_ still an exam?"

"Sorry, Professor," the team chorused.

Yang waved cheekily. "Hey, Vel. How've you been?"

The professor smiled and shook her head. "A bit more respect, please? I _am_ a teacher, after all." She looked over the two alumni. "If you'd like to join your daughters for lunch, there's plenty of food in the dining hall."

" **Usiku" means "midnight" in Swahili. The other names introduced in this chapter are fairly self-explanatory. Power Rangers fans will recognize Cerulea's semblance as Sydney Drew's "elemental fist" from SPD. It's definitely cool enough to be a semblance in RWBY. I take a** _ **lot**_ **of inspiration from Power Rangers (heck, there's over 25 years of material to work with) so there's probably gonna be quite a few references in here.**

 **It might take another couple of updates before I'm back to my previous rate. However, after that, I should return to my every-week-or-two update schedule.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	10. A Brief Respite

**I do not own RWBY.**

 **A Brief Respite**

After the morning they'd had, all the first-years loaded up their plates. There were burgers with an assortment of toppings, pizza, fruit, cookies, and soda, among other things. Yang sat down next to Jade.

"So how'd your semester go? I'm sorry I couldn't be here before this, but my mission in Vacuo took _way_ longer than it should've. By the way…" Yang reached into her bag and withdrew two plainly wrapped packages. Tossing one each to Aurum and Indie, she added, "I know it's late, but… happy birthday."

Weiss shook her head. "And here I was worried that _my_ gifts were too late."

Aurum had torn open the package. "Spicy jerky? You're the best!"

Indie was carefully unwrapping her own package. "A Petra Gigas figurine? These are limited edition; where'd you even get one?!"

Yang reached over the table and ruffled the girl's short blue hair. "I knew you'd appreciate these."

Jade was reaching for the ketchup bottle when Yang slyly reached over and stole a bunch of grapes off her plate. Pulling one off the stem, she declared, "It sure is _grape_ to see you all again."

Weiss and Indie both groaned. Jade simply shook the bottle, and as she applied a liberal amount of the red sauce to her burger, replied, "I know; we really need to… ketchup."

Aurum booed and began pelting both Xiao Longs with blueberries. Yang only laughed and high-fived her daughter. "That's my girl!"

Weiss gave a very undignified snort. "You'll never change, Yang."

"You love me and you know it," Yang retorted.

Weiss only rolled her eyes. "No comment."

Zelty walked over at that moment. "Hey, Skye? I just wanted to thank you again for tutoring me. I'm off probation now and it's all thanks to you."

Skye smiled at him. "That's great! I'm glad I could be of some help. Oh, and this is my mom."

Zelty glanced over at Weiss. "It's… it's nice to meet you, Ms. Schnee." He turned and fled as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself.

Weiss gave an annoyed huff as she stared after him. "Oh, come on. I wasn't even _trying_ to be intimidating that time."

"Oh, you have to try to be intimidating? I thought it was just your personality," Skye snarked. Although, to be fair, Zelty was easily intimdated by adults, especially when those adults were also authority figures.

"There's that sarcasm again!" Weiss declared approvingly. "Really, I'm impressed."

Yang, trying to steer the conversation in a more serious direction, asked, "So how _did_ your semester go? I never got an answer before."

The team members glanced at each other for a moment before Skye proudly replied, "Pretty good. Team SAIJ currently holds a 93 team average, which is the highest of the first-year teams by a significant margin."

Yang whistled, impressed. "That's way better than Team RWBY did our first semester. Then again, you haven't tangled with any criminals yet, so I'd still say we were ahead."

"What makes you think we haven't?" Aurum demanded.

Weiss raised her eyebrows. " _Have_ you?"

Aurum scowled. "No."

"Well then." Weiss turned back to her daughter. "I'll only be able to stay a few days. I have a business meeting with the CEO of Borden Tech that's likely to take several sessions, but I wasn't going to come to Vale without seeing you. Though I _do_ wish I'd managed to catch your match."

"I'm gonna be around for a few weeks," Yang interjected. "Like I said, my mission in Vacuo took a while. I need a break, so I'll hang out here, I think. Visit some friends and family, maybe do a little shopping… I'd be _very_ excited to do some training with you all."

Aurum lit up at that.

"Thanks, Mom." Jade leaned over and hugged her. "I'm glad you're staying a while; I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, sweetie." Yang smoothed out the little cowlick in Jade's hair that was identical to her own, then glanced across the table. "Mind giving us a while? We've got some catching up to do."

Skye nodded. "You can go to our dorm."

"Excellent." Yang stood up. "We'll see you all in a bit."

Jade led the way back to Team SAIJ's dorm room. Shutting the door behind her, the two women took a seat on Jade's bunk. The bespectacled fighter tugged out her ponytail and shook out her hair; it had gotten messed up in the match earlier. She reached for her hairbrush, only to have it snatched up before she could get her hands on it. It had barely registered when she felt the brush in her hair. Mom was using quick, practiced strokes to get the tangles out, and had the ponytail back in place in no time.

"There—your hair's much easier to deal with than mine." Yang set the brush down. "So how's your life been going? I admit, I was hoping at least one of your cousins would end up on your team, but having all three of them must be… interesting."

Jade leaned in and Yang wrapped an arm around her. "It's been fun, mostly. We worked really well together even before Beacon, which helps a lot; we're way ahead of the other teams in our year. But… being in a real school is… not what I thought it would be, and it's… taken some adjustment." She sighed. "My combat scores are perfect or almost perfect every time, but my writing skills are nonexistent. Skye makes me climb something every day—"

Yang frowned. "Why does Skye make you climb things?"

Jade snuggled a little closer. "Indie dared me to climb a rope in the gym, and I couldn't do it. I had to tell them I'm scared of heights, and now Skye's trying to cure me of it."

Yang squeezed her a little tighter. "That was my fault. I know I haven't always been the best mom, but I thought I did all right…"

"It's _not_ your fault," Jade insisted. "I mean it. I've taken down Grimm that size a million times before, and you taught me everything I know. I'm working to get over my fear; that's all that matters now."

The two settled into silence. Yang sighed as she considered her daughter's life. It had always been just the two of them; she'd ended her relationship with Forrest before Jade was born, and she'd often blamed herself for his death. There hadn't been any hard feelings between them, but if she hadn't broken things off with him when she had, he wouldn't have taken the mission that had ultimately cost him his life. It had nearly torn Yang in half to leave her newborn daughter with her sister while she went on a mission; it echoed too closely what her own mother had done. Still, she had to make a living somehow, and bringing a month-old child on missions was out of the question.

As soon as Jade was old enough, Yang had started bringing her along. She'd done her best, and she didn't think she'd done too badly… until that day five months ago. That giant Nevermore… it had been ages since the last time she lost her temper like that. It was a good thing Grimm dissolved when killed, because she'd defeated it by _literally_ tearing it apart.

Sensing that now wasn't the time to break the silence, Jade simply sat there and let the hug continue.

xxxxx

Weiss had asked for a few minutes alone with Skye, and the two of them were currently wandering around the beautifully landscaped grounds, talking. "…A 93 average is excellent, but I admit I was expecting a little higher," Weiss was saying. "Any reason for that?"

"Well…" Skye considered for a moment how much she should say. "Jade is terrible at written assignments, but I can't be too hard on her; it's not like she's ever needed to know how. And technically, she hasn't failed any of them."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her. "I highly doubt that poor writing skills are responsible for seven points off your average."

"No… well, Indie's been struggling in combat class. Out of our whole team, she's the weakest in close quarters, and for some reason, she keeps getting paired up with opponents who are really good at it. She's been making an effort to improve, and we can all see the difference."

"And Aurum?"

Skye smiled. "Aurum's combat scores are almost perfect, and her academic classes aren't far behind. We had to ban her from coffee after the first day, though."

"Good; I'm glad to hear that you're all doing well." Weiss stopped walking for a moment and looked down into her daughter's eyes; the two of them were the same height, but Weiss almost never wore heels lower than three inches, whereas Skye preferred flats. "Do you know why I didn't argue when you said you wanted to enroll at Beacon instead of Atlas?"

Skye shrugged. "I got the feeling there were lots of reasons."

"Yes, but the most important reason is that my time at Beacon was wonderful. I met my best friends here. I wanted you to have the same opportunity to meet new people, outside of Atlas. It's good for you to see how other kingdoms run things, especially considering the military situation back home. Atlas isn't exactly the most…" she paused, "… _diverse_ community. As the future head of one of Remnant's most powerful companies, you need to see as much of the world as possible, learn as much as you can, in order to be successful. You're my whole world, sweetheart, and I want what's best for you."

"I know, Mom." Skye leaned in and quickly hugged her mother. Despite the formal tone Weiss had just been using, she didn't hesitate to return the embrace.

xxxxx

With Jade and Skye taking the opportunity to spend some time with their moms, Aurum and Indie had decided to visit the gym. Their current project was working on combination attacks.

"Fire!" Aurum yelled.

Indie aimed one arrow at the target and loosed. Aurum dissolved into shadow and sped toward the target herself, trying to beat the arrow there. Her efforts succeeded; she reached the other end of the long training gym a split second before the arrow thudded into the bulls-eye.

"Ready to step it up a notch?" Indie asked.

Aurum nodded, grinning.

"All right; let's do it!" Indie attached the next arrow to her quiver cord and lined up her shot. "Now!"

Aurum pelted down the room, trying to catch the arrow. The idea behind this combination was that Aurum would catch the cord and then run in circles around an opponent, tying them up and effectively disabling them. It would work on human opponents as well as Grimm—if they could get it to work.

The arrow thudded into the target again; unlike last time, it didn't hit the bulls-eye, which meant that Aurum had at least managed to clip it, even if she hadn't caught it outright. "Damn! I know we can do this; let's try again."

They'd been at it for an hour when they realized they weren't alone anymore. Jade looked them over from the doorway. "Practicing Flowergarden again?"

Yang burst out into a huge grin. "You call your team attack Flowergarden?"

"Well, obviously." Skye's voice came from behind them. "Their emblems are both flowers; what else were we supposed to call it?"

"Oh, I don't know." Yang shrugged. "It's a good name; I just wasn't expecting it."

"What do you call your other team attacks?" Weiss asked. She'd come in behind Skye.

"Well…" Skye glanced at her teammates. "Ice Dragon!"

Jade tensed, preparing for what came next, and attached the bases of Lu Xise together. The combined tonfa now resembled a baseball bat, too long to be called a baton but too short to be considered a staff. As soon as she was ready, Skye cast a speed glyph underneath her partner's feet, and the girl shot forward, swinging her weapon at incredible speeds.

"Snowcat!"

As Skye yelled the latest attack name, she summoned a series of glyphs that ascended into the air like a staircase. Aurum activated her semblance and hurtled toward the floating snowflakes, jumping onto each one. As she reached the top, she leaped off and began spinning, her fans slicing the air with deadly precision.

Indie turned to the adults. "Not bad, huh? We fight really well as a team."

Yang was applauding. "That was great!" She paused a moment, then added, "If you ever want someone to practice on, I'll be here!"

Weiss simply smiled. "That was quite impressive. I'm glad to see that you're all continuing to improve."

xxxxx

Skye kept one page on her scroll open to Beacon's scoring page, and refreshed it every hour for the next several days until final grades were posted. As soon as she registered that the listing for the current semester was no longer blank, she called her team over. "Are we ready for this?"

The other three girls nodded eagerly. Skye projected the image onto the wall of their dorm room before she hit the Submit option that would display their results. "Team grade: 93. And individual grades… here." She clicked on the link. "All _right_! For combat… Indie, 88; Jade, 95; Aurum, 96; Skye, 93. And academics… Indie, 99; Jade, 84; Aurum, 93; Skye, 96. There's some comments from our professors here too."

Jade glanced over the comments. "Hey, Trace says I have 'good battle instincts.' That's good."

Indie skimmed them as well. "Heh, Waters says I'm a 'natural Dust user.' What's that say about _you_ , Skye?"

The heiress shot her teammate a mock superior look. "If you hadn't noticed, she said the same thing about me."

"And Scarlatina complimented our performance and says we've all improved!" Aurum cheered.

Jade held up both hands for high fives. Indie and Aurum both slapped one while Skye put her scroll away.

Their cheering was interrupted by a loud thump. Jade answered the door. "Mom! Is it time already?"

Yang grinned at them. "You bet! Can't expect to improve if you don't train!"

The four teens sent her ahead, then quickly changed into their workout gear and headed for the gym. Yang was very happy to let them pummel her if it meant spending some time with her family, so they'd been doing this every day of their break. She was staying in the building set aside for use by professional Huntsmen, on the floor with temporary housing, and hadn't taken any missions yet.

"You know we'll only be able to do this another couple days, right?" Yang questioned as they joined her. "Classes start up again on Monday."

Jade's expression became somewhat disappointed. "Does that mean you're leaving soon?"

Yang looked apologetic as she adjusted her sleeves. "'Fraid so, kiddo. Believe me, I'd love to stick around, but…"

"I get it." Jade's shoulders slumped. "You have to go save the world."

"Save the world?" Yang repeated, fighting a smile. "It's nothing _that_ dramatic. I _distinctly_ recall taking you along whenever I was a guest lecturer at one of the schools. You really think talking to a roomful of students qualifies as 'saving the world'?"

Jade shrugged. "Among other things."

Yang shook her head. "Don't you think you're being a _little_ dramatic?" She'd given up on trying not to smile.

"Maybe a little." Jade held up her hand with her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

Yang took another long glance at her daughter before slowly saying, "You know what? I don't think taking one day off from training will hurt. Why don't we all get some fresh air?"

Aurum looked incredibly disappointed but had the sense not to say anything. Yang followed the group to a spot outside, one that Indie had decided was a good place for just about anything she wanted. It wasn't much, just a tree with a couple benches underneath, but the maple had evenly spaced branches perfect for climbing, a sturdy trunk to practice her punches, and shade—either perched on a branch or sitting on one of the benches—for studying.

Yang recounted a number of the crazier missions she'd taken over the years, to the amusement of the team. They'd heard it all before, of course, but these stories never got old. At one point, after Yang had paused for a breath, Aurum cut in with, "Is that how you know Professor Scarlatina? You met on a mission, right?"

"Nope." Yang shook her head. "Team CFVY graduated from Shade, but they started out right here." She patted the bench next to her for emphasis. "They transferred after the fall of Beacon, when the school was temporarily overrun by Grimm."

Jade shivered. The idea that Beacon Academy, or really any of the combat schools, could be taken over by the very thing they were created to fight was terrifying.

"Anyway, CFVY was a year ahead of us, so we only overlapped for one year," Yang continued. "But anybody who fought that day… it brought us all closer together." Her eyes became unfocused for a moment; she was obviously seeing the horrors that had occurred so many years ago. Then her gaze snapped back to the teens clustered around her. "But enough about that. Jade, I'll stick around for your birthday, but after that… I'm headed off to Mistral. It won't happen now, but how about at the end of the year, I take you in to get your driver's license?"

Jade nodded eagerly. Since she'd grown up on the road, she owned very few _things_ —there simply wasn't room for anything larger than a couple of bags and some food. As a result, her birthday presents tended to be experiences. She was a little relieved to be finally getting a driver's license—learning how to drive had been her birthday present five years ago, when she'd turned thirteen, but she'd technically been driving illegally the whole time since then. It wasn't _too_ big of a deal, since knowing how to drive was really only in case of emergencies, but still. Having an official driver's license would mean one less thing she had to worry about.

Yang smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Excellent! You know I'll miss you, but it's been great getting to spend a little time with you— _all_ of you," she added, glancing around at the team. "Maybe someday you'll actually be able to take me on in a fight!"

 **I learned something writing this chapter. I learned that I have absolutely** _ **zero**_ **talent for writing small talk. It took me** _ **five tries**_ **to get the damn thing right. This is also why it's shorter than the last several chapters. Anyway, be prepared for more action next time.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	11. Second Semester

**This chapter took longer than I intended for personal reasons, but I'm super excited for it! I hope you like!**

 **I do not own RWBY. I wish!**

 **Second Semester**

The second semester kicked off much more tamely than the first. No cliffs to launch from, no monsters to kill (except in Grimm Studies), and even more homework. A week into the semester, History class was interrupted when Headmistress Goodwitch strode to the front of the room. She was followed by a man that none of the students had ever seen before.

"Students, this is Professor Pine. He serves as an advisor of sorts to all four of the senior academies, as well as the primary schools from time to time. He will be here for the next several weeks, observing your progress and working with the teachers to improve the curriculum however we can. Please show him the same respect you would give your other teachers."

Skye looked him over. Professor Pine wore a gray and black suit minus the tie, with a few green details. His brown hair was currently in the process of losing out to gray. She guessed he was in his mid-forties. He also carried an elaborate walking stick, though he didn't appear to need its assistance in getting around.

His greeting was short and to the point. "Hello, students. The headmistress has informed me of your current standing; however, I look forward to observing your skills myself over the coming days. Remember to do your best."

Professor Pine's presence changed nothing for the students. Although he could be seen in each of their classes that week, he very deliberately took a seat in the back row of each classroom, as though to minimize the impact and remain as unnoticeable as possible. The students soon forgot he was even there.

Team SAIJ spent the second semester very much like the first. In between classes, studying, and training, they still managed to find the time for some fun. It was a month into the semester when Skye walked into their dorm room, grinning madly.

Jade glanced over at her team leader. "Someone's in a good mood."

Skye leaned against the door frame, her expression unchanged. "I have a date tomorrow!"

All three of her teammates perked to attention. It was Aurum who finally asked the question. "Zelty finally worked up the guts to ask you out?"

Skye shook her head, still giddy. "I asked _him_."

"Hah!" The triumphant exclamation came from Indie's bunk. "Pay up, losers!"

With identical sour expressions and a fair amount of grumbling, Jade and Aurum both pulled their wallets from their bags and tossed a few Lien at the bunk. The blue-haired archer cackled dramatically as she collected the cash and fanned it out in her hand.

Skye was staring at the exchange in openmouthed shock. "You _bet_ on me?!"

"Well, technically we bet on the odds of you and Zelty actually going on a date," Aurum pointed out. " _I_ thought he'd ask you."

"And _I_ was sure you'd both dance around each other until at least next year," Jade added. "Indie thought you'd get fed up waiting and ask him instead."

Skye glared at Indie, who only gave a mock salute and vanished back onto her bunk. She grumbled, "You guys are the _worst._ "

"Awww, you know you love us," Aurum teased her.

"I'm currently rethinking that."

The interruption over, all four girls resumed their studying—or, in Jade's case, continued her drawing. Her birthday had come and gone, and her teammates had gotten her a book she'd been wanting for a while, as well as a large bag of sour gummy worms (candy seemed to be the theme for this year). She couldn't exactly make a portrait of _herself_ as a gift; but seeing as she was making them for all of her teammates, she'd decided to do one anyway so they'd have a set. It featured her in a sort of post-apocalyptic world, with lots of angles and dark colors.

Her gaze kept returning to the team photo currently holding the place of honor on the wall. They'd gotten it done over the break; Indie had noticed that Professor Scarlatina was often seen photographing things around campus. The team had asked her if she wouldn't mind taking a team photo of them all. She'd agreed readily, saying that this wasn't the first time she'd been asked such a favor.

The photo featured Skye to the left, with her right hand poised over the hilt of her saber. Aurum was directly next to her, grinning as she flashed a peace sign at the camera. Indie had her hood pushed back, standing a little behind them, caught in the middle of a laugh. Jade was kneeling at the front, smacking a fist into her other hand and a cheerful smile on her face.

Hanging right underneath Team SAIJ's team photo was a copy of Team RWBY's graduation photo. Skye had asked her mother for it and Weiss had given it to them when she'd visited, though it had taken them a few days to actually hang it. Weiss herself was at the forefront of the image, both hands on her rapier that was resting on the ground at her feet. Her hair was in the off-center ponytail she'd favored when she was younger, rather than the bun she'd adopted after taking over as head of the SDC. She was trying hard to look serious, but this was greatly downplayed by the fact that Ruby had flung an arm around her shoulders and was pumping her other hand into the air, grinning hugely. Blake stood at the back in no particular pose, her expression somewhat amused at her leader's antics. Next to Blake, Yang was casually spinning a pair of aviator sunglasses in her hand.

Despite the differences in the two teams, there was one clear similarity: the four teenage girls in each photo were clearly the best of friends.

xxxxx

July, August, and September all passed in something of a blur. End-of-year exams were announced—combat, Field Medicine, and DustApps would be practical exams, while Grimm Studies, History, and Theory of Aura would be written tests (Jade couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief at finding that out). However, even the thought of final exams wasn't as daunting as what came afterward—the first missions that the first-years would be taking. Of course, they wouldn't be _official_ missions quite yet. First-year students were only permitted to shadow Huntsmen as they went about official business, and there were restrictions in place as to what they could take.

Many days, Skye and Zelty could be seen together, with their heads bent over textbooks. Sometimes they would claim a table in the library; other days they would take a bench on the lawn. Skye was a little disappointed that shadowing missions would be limited to one team per Huntsman.

On Skye's birthday, she was given the now-expected assortment of gifts: jelly beans and a portrait from her teammates (Jade had outdone herself with this one; Skye looked exactly like a warrior princess from a fairy tale), and customized Dust vials from her mother. The package also included a card from Klein, reading _Happy birthday, my little sparkler_ , along with a pair of silver earrings shaped like lilies. Skye smiled as she read it. Klein may have been a butler, but he was the only servant Weiss still employed, and he had been Skye's only father figure growing up.

Exams went off without a hitch. Even Jade didn't flinch at the written assignments. Knowing that there wouldn't be another year this academically challenging had done wonders for her outlook.

Field Medicine was fairly straightforward. Half the first-year class pretended to be patients with various injuries, and the other half was responsible for treating them. After an hour, they switched places. At the end, Professor Planis announced that while she still had to tally scores, none of the individuals had failed the exam. Her next words were drowned out in a chorus of cheers. She smiled at them, then announced, "All right, dismissed."

The DustApps practical was mostly uneventful, except for when Rue overestimated the amount of fire Dust she needed to use to melt the ice shards generated by Saphed, who had gone before her. No one was hurt in the resulting explosion, but Rue looked like a bomb had gone off in her face.

Combat class was nearly a repeat of the midterm exam, with first-year students facing off against second-years. However, this time it had two parts; the second was full-team battles. Team SAIJ ended up against Team RUST, the only group of older students they really knew. Their match was the last of the day, and unsurprisingly, all of the other teams stuck around to watch.

It couldn't be described as a _match_ so much as a _massacre_. When SAIJ was finished with them, Fuchsia was encased in ice up to her neck. Tanso had scorch marks all over his clothes. Usiku had been thoroughly bruised and battered, and while Scarletta's aura had survived the fight (barely), with her three teammates incapacitated she hadn't been difficult to take down. The team had been completely demolished in half the time it had taken CROM to finish their own match.

Professor Scarlatina looked like she was having trouble even coming up with constructive criticism for them, and eventually entered something on her scroll. "Very good, all of you. Official scores will be available in a few days. Enjoy your break. I look forward to seeing you all again next year!"

With that, the students were all dismissed. Cerulea, Esme, and Saphed were ecstatic over having survived exams, until Aubergine brought them all back down to earth. "You realize that exams are just a formality at this point, and the _real_ test will be out in the field, when we're shadowing professionals."

As if on cue, a video notification appeared on every first-year student's scroll from the Headmistress. "Congratulations on completing your first year of higher education. Tomorrow, you will be selecting missions on which to shadow professional Huntsmen in the field. Make sure you are prepared for whichever mission you choose to take. Get a good night's sleep, and I commend you all."

Skye shrugged. "Well, I guess that's that, then. Let's get dinner and then blow off some steam until curfew. I think we've earned it." This was greeted by cheers from her teammates.

On the way back to the dorm, Indie queried, "What mission should we take?"

The others came to a screeching halt as the question registered. All eyes turned to Jade, who snorted. "What, you think just 'cause I've been on missions before means I have all the answers?"

"At least tell us what the options are," Aurum begged.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Oh, all _right_ …"

xxxxx

By the time curfew rolled around, the team had pretty much decided that Village Security was a good mission to start with. As recommended by the headmistress, they made sure to pack essentials, sleeping bags and some food, along with some personal items, before settling in for the night. It seemed like Aurum had only blinked before they were standing in front of the mission boards, ready to select an option.

Skye noticed her hand was shaking as she attempted to skim through the listings. "If anything catches your eye, let me know."

Only a moment later Jade's eyes lit up and she pointed to one listing. "Summerton needs a temporary Huntsman while their official one is away. Summerton's awesome! I think you guys'd really love it."

Skye glanced around at the others. "Summerton? Outside of Vale, on the coast?" Jade nodded enthusiastically.

Aurum didn't need any more convincing. Indie considered for a moment, then nodded agreement.

"Okay, here goes. Team SAIJ's first official mission." Skye pulled up the keyboard and, with still-shaking hands, entered _SAIJ_ in the slot for team name. The screen turned green and a bubble reading _Mission Accepted_ appeared. "We all ready for this?"

She'd meant it as a rhetorical question, but her teammates all nodded anyway. "All right, then. We should probably head over by the main entrance; that's where Goodwitch is, and we need to check in with her before we can leave."

The four followed the crowd's general motion and made their way over toward the main doors. Jade, ever practical, was the one to ask, "Hey, does anyone know who we're shadowing?"

A cheerful feminine voice from behind them replied, "That'd be me."

As one, the four turned around. Seeing who was standing there, they all stopped, stared—until Aurum flung herself at the woman with a squeal. " _Nora_!" It was like running headlong into a brick wall—Nora was solid muscle. Aurum bounced off and would have landed on her butt if Nora hadn't snapped out a hand, lightning-fast, and snatched the young cat Faunus by the wrist. She let go after making sure the girl had found her balance.

"Hey there, kiddos. Ready for some fun?"

Indie was the next to find her voice. "Nora, you're our mentor for this mission?"

Nora grinned at them. "You betcha!"

Skye squinted at her, suspicious. "Did Mom put you up to this?"

"If your mother wanted to manipulate the missions to keep you safe, I highly doubt she would have chosen _Nora_ to be your mentor."

Jade should have expected that; wherever Nora was, Ren was never far behind. It had taken him a moment longer to catch up with them. He smiled at them. "This is exciting, isn't it? I'm looking for…" he glanced at something on his scroll. "…Team AZSR. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find them, would you?"

As he said it, Aurum caught a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. Turning in that direction, she shouted, "Hey, Aubergine! Over here!"

The pirate girl glanced over at where the Faunus girl was waving her arms in the air, and shaking her head with amusement, headed their way, followed by her team. She took a look at Nora. "Are you our mentor?"

Ren took a small step forward. "No, I am. Escort mission to the north."

Jade glanced back and forth between the two. _Escort mission to the north? But Summerton is on the southwestern coast_ … "Wait, you two are… taking separate missions?" Maybe it should have been obvious, but… Ren and Nora were a single unit, had _been_ a single unit since forever. The idea of them splitting up, even for a few days, simply did not compute.

Nora looked rather amused at Jade's confused expression. "It has happened before, you know."

"Very, very rarely," Ren pointed out. "Please don't let this turn out like last time. I don't want to have to do damage control again, and Weiss in particular will have your head if anything happens to Skye on your watch."

"I can take care of myself!" Skye protested.

Ren smiled at her. "I'm well aware. However, I don't think it will matter to your mother if you do end up hurt." He turned back to Nora. "Even you can't win against all of Team RWBY at once."

"I can try!" Nora declared.

Skye opened her mouth to protest, then snapped it shut. He had a point.

Another part of the conversation had caught Aurum's attention. "What happened last time?"

Ren started to answer, but Nora quickly slapped her hand over his mouth before he could say anything. He glanced at her, amusement plain, before prying her hand away and replying, "Nora decided to take a bounty mission in the city. She tracked down the criminal's hideout, and broke in."

"So what happened?" Indie asked eagerly; these two always had the craziest stories.

"Absolutely nothing!" Nora responded forcefully.

Ren rolled his eyes. "Nora, when you returned to Beacon he was babbling incoherently when he wasn't begging for the police to arrest him."

"So?" Nora demanded.

"You broke him, Nora."

Nora scowled. "He was the one who challenged _me_ to an arm-wrestling match. How's that my fault?"

Ren shook his head. "I wasn't talking about his _arm_."

Nora still looked unhappy. "It's his own fault for underestimating me. What made him do that?"

Aubergine glanced at the Huntress. "Maybe because you're five feet zero and wearing enough pink that I'm getting a cavity just looking at you?"

"Hey!" Nora jabbed a finger in Aubergine's direction, mock offended. "I'll have you know, I'm five one!" She paused for a moment, then, almost as an afterthought, added, "And I have _grenades_!"

"Except you _didn't_ have any grenades on you then." Ren's expression was equal parts fondness and exasperation as he regarded her. Skye decided to intervene.

"Umm… maybe we should start heading out? Our mission was supposed to start right away."

"Oh yes, you should do that," Ren answered. He turned to AZSR. "Since our own doesn't start until tomorrow, I would like to spend the day training with you so that I can get an idea of what your strengths are."

Zelty took the opportunity to wave to Skye. Nora narrowed her eyes and was about to say something when Ren took her hand. She turned back to look at him as he told her, "Stay safe out there, all right?"

Her expression was uncharacteristically serious as she replied, "I will if you will." Without waiting for a response, she quickly stood on her toes to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck at the same time. No one on Team SAIJ batted an eye—this was nothing they hadn't seen before, after all—but all of AZSR suddenly found their weapons fascinating.

Jade attempted to use her semblance to obscure them from view and give them a little privacy. It was much more difficult than using it on herself, and she was still getting the hang of this trick. She couldn't tell whether or not she'd been successful before Nora's cheerful voice could be heard once again. "All right, team; let's go kill things!"

xxxxx

It wasn't that simple, of course. It would take them several hours on an airship before they reached Summerton, and as Skye had pointed out, they needed to check in with Goodwitch first. CROM had beaten them to her, and the headmistress was currently chatting with their senior Huntsman. Aurum grumbled and shifted on her feet at having to wait.

The team finally wrapped things up and headed for the door, Cerulea waving at them as she walked away. Skye stepped up to the podium Goodwitch was standing at.

The headmistress briefly glanced at them, then back down at her scroll. "Let's see… first year team… SAIJ. Mission… Village Security. Location… Summerton. Mentor…" She peered at the type on her scroll, then glanced up over the top of her glasses, expression carefully neutral. "Nora Valkyrie. I do hope you aren't planning on breaking any criminals while you're out there."

An expression settled onto Nora's face that could only be described as _disgruntled_. "That was _one time_." Clearly she wasn't happy at having this topic brought up again.

The corners of Goodwitch's mouth twitched. "Oh, I am well aware. Go on, then; the airship is waiting for you."

 **AND I'M DONE! FINALLY! Having the team shadow Nora on a mission was one of the first plot points I came up with when I started brainstorming this fic. She's so much fun to write!**

 **Also, I know that at this point in time, Oscar is only about thirty-seven. However, I feel like the responsibilities he has on his shoulders would have probably aged him prematurely, hence Skye's assumption that he's older than he really is. When Ozpin first explained the whole reincarnation thing, I envisioned it as kinda like the Avatar cycle, where each incarnation has access to the knowledge of his predecessors, but maintaining a distinct personality. So that's what I went with here.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	12. Mission Start

**New chapter! And inside my preferred two-week time frame!**

 **I do not own RWBY.**

 **Mission Start**

After the team had boarded the airship and settled in for the long ride, Nora started briefing them on the specifics of their mission. "What you may not know about our mission is that Summerton is a very old village. It was first settled roughly three hundred years ago, and survived the Great War due to its isolation. As a result, it's fairly sizeable for being so far away from the main kingdom. There are several natural barriers that protect it from the Grimm: the ocean to the west, a large river to the south, and about a half mile to the north of the village is a sheer cliff face that deters most terrestrial Grimm species."

Indie's eyes lit up. "Ooh, can I climb it?"

Nora simply smiled and continued her explanation. "Due to its size, there is a Huntsman stationed there at all times; however, because of these natural barriers, there's only the one. I don't know him, but we spoke after I accepted the mission, and he told me that he's leaving for a few days for a family event."

That seemed to be all she planned to say, so after a moment, Jade stepped in. "Summerton's main industry is fishing, but there's some farmland to the north, between the cliff and the village itself, and also to the east where all the trees have been cleared. This serves dual purposes, because it means they can spot approaching Grimm early. The village is known for its market, and a fair amount of trading with Atlas and Mistral takes place here."

Nora glanced over at the bespectacled fighter. "You've been there before, I take it?"

Jade nodded. "Mom took me with her a few years ago, when they were dealing with an especially difficult infestation of Grimm. The Huntsman had called for backup, and we were only a day out on the water."

Nora nodded at her. "Yes, that does happen on occasion. However, since Summerton is so isolated, most of the citizens are trained in at least basic combat to fight off some of the lesser Grimm."

After a few more minutes of relative silence, the five Huntresses began to settle in for the ride. Jade and Aurum began playing a game against each other on their scrolls, the occasional cheer or groan from one or the other their only contribution. Skye texted her mom, who replied that she was leaving for the Schnee family reunion and was not happy about it. Indie had smuggled a few comic books into her backpack and was currently absorbed in one of them.

The journey passed quickly with their various forms of entertainment, and as they approached their destination, the pilot radioed back to them. "Half hour to Summerton; hope you ladies are prepared. There's no official place to land, so I'm setting down on the water. Just a heads-up so you won't be surprised when the ship starts rocking back and forth after landing."

The four Huntresses-in-training immediately put away their entertainment and stood ready. Nora looked impressed and pleased; she had trained each of them herself to an extent, after all. Aurum was bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement, while Indie had spotted the cliff they were following and was nearly drooling.

Landing wasn't that bad; there were four large piers set up and a village official had pulled alongside them in a motorboat by the time they were ready to disembark. He greeted them with a casual "Welcome to Summerton!" and then proceeded to get bombarded with questions from the team. He did his best to answer them all, and had expertly docked the boat by the time the airship had taken off again. "I believe the watchtower on the eastern end of town has been set up for your use. There is a small kitchen and living space on the ground floor, and sleeping areas on the second and third floors, though they're not furnished. The top floor is the lookout… you'll take shifts, I suppose?"

"Possibly." Nora was all business. "We'll have to see them before we can say for certain."

He nodded and saluted them briefly before leaving. Nora turned to the team. "Well, I say we check out the watchtower and get set up. We'll be here for five nights, so I'll stay on watch tonight, and the rest of you can each take a two-hour shift with me. The rest of our time here… do you like the idea of single shifts for all night, or would you rather take four-hour shifts twice so you can still get some sleep?"

Jade spoke up. "I'd rather do a whole night, but we don't all have to."

The watchtower was unfurnished, as the official had informed them. However, there was plenty of room for them each to set up the bedrolls they'd packed on the third floor. They reconvened in the kitchen a few minutes later. Nora held the door open for them. "Better enjoy the day while we can!" The team followed her out and started to take in the sights.

"It's already kinda late," Skye noted. It was true; the sun was sinking down below the horizon, easily visible over the ocean. "Maybe we should eat something while we decide who's taking what shift."

As the others nodded agreement, Aurum was following her nose to a food cart. Drooling, she made her way to the window. She placed her order, paid, and rejoined the group with her food before they noticed she was gone.

Indie covered her nose with one hand. "Eww, what's that smell?"

Aurum waved her plate in front of her partner's face. "Tuna stir-fry."

Skye also covered her nose at the mention of fish; Jade, however, looked intrigued. She vanished, only to reappear a moment later with the same dish in her own hand.

Nora looked back at Skye and Indie's protests. "Get used to it, kiddos. We're in a fishing village; fishy smells are unavoidable."

The two blue-clad girls did eventually manage to find a food stand that was fish-free. Skye ordered some kind of fried dumpling, and Indie decided on a grilled cheese sandwich and a fruit smoothie. As they walked, a good-natured argument broke out about who was taking each watch.

Jade acted as unofficial tour guide during their walk around the village, pointing out the marketplace that Summerton was so famous for, along with several other landmarks. The streets were illuminated with Dust crystals set into lamppost, just like in the main kingdom; clearly Summerton's village council wanted to make it as welcoming as possible.

Nora finally called a halt to their explorations, as it was nearly nine-thirty and the citizens were starting to vanish into their homes for the night. "Back to the watchtower, come on. Don't forget, we came here to do a job, not to play tourist."

Skye pulled the pins from her hair, although she left it braided. As the others made their way to their sleeping bags, she and Nora climbed the steps to the fourth floor of the tower—although calling it a "floor" was a bit misleading. It technically had a roof, but that was all; on each side, the small room was open to the outside.

Skye set the alarm on her scroll for five minutes to midnight.

"So…" Nora began. "I noticed a certain blond seems to have a thing for you."

Skye rolled her eyes. Despite her age, Nora had always been more of an older sister figure than anything else, and she had a serious nose for gossip. "You're not the slightest bit subtle, you know that?"

"I don't _do_ subtle," Nora declared. "So spill!"

Pointing out that they were _supposed_ to be on watch and that getting distracted seemed like a bad idea was probably pointless. "His name's Zelty, he's from Atlas, and he's a first-year student like us."

"Have you told your mother yet?" Nora's expression was so smug Skye was sure she already knew the answer.

"It's only been a couple months, when would I have seen her to tell her?"

"Well, there is this thing called a scroll that lets you talk to people far away…" Nora teased. "But I guess I understand wanting to tell her in person. Just… don't wait too long, okay?"

"Yeah." Skye shrugged. "I'll tell her next time I see her, when she comes to the school to see me after our mission's over."

"Good." Nora looked rather pleased with herself. "And if she _does_ ask why you didn't tell her about your boyfriend, you can just turn it around and ask why _she_ didn't tell you about _her_ boyfriend."

"Right," Skye absently responded—then did a double take as Nora's words registered. "Wait, _what_?!"

Nora winked at her. "You didn't hear that from me."

Skye needed a minute to digest that. Mom had a boyfriend? Since when? It wasn't like she had a _problem_ with Mom dating or anything—but for Skye's entire life, her mother had never been in a serious relationship. Even now, she couldn't come up with a single name for who it could possibly be. The rest of the shift passed in relative silence as she tried to puzzle it out.

xxxxx

Waking up Indie wasn't easy. The girl had a tendency to fling the nearest object at whoever dared to try, and with her semblance, projectiles usually landed with deadly accuracy. That didn't matter to Skye, though; her watch was over, and it was someone else's turn. She ended up poking Indie in the shoulder with her sword. The archer rolled over in her sleeping bag, half-awake, but managed to get herself up and to the lookout with a minute to spare.

Except for some light conversation, Indie's shift was uneventful. Nora wanted to know how her close-combat skills were coming along, and offered to spar with her for a bit later. Before she knew it, her shift was over and it was time to wake up Jade.

This was the longest part of the night, the time when every noise sounded amplified. Jade was used to it. She'd stayed on watch a bunch of times before, mostly in the last few years. She wasn't used to sharing the watch, though.

"If I'm remembering correctly…" Nora started, "this last year was the longest you've ever stayed in one place."

"Yeah." Jade didn't really care about having a permanent home; she wouldn't have decided to become a Huntress if that was the case. However… "It's nice. Knowing where I am as soon as I wake up, I mean. And I can buy lots more books." She got out of her seat and walked over to the side of the tower, gripping the rail and steeling herself to look down.

 _Huh… that's actually not so bad._ In the semidarkness, she couldn't really make out the ground below her. The surroundings were obscured, and it didn't feel like she was that high up.

Nora was watching her interestedly. "What's that about?"

Jade took her time sitting back down. "I'm… afraid of heights. Trying to get better, but…" She trailed off; there wasn't really a "but" in her statement.

"How did you manage to pass Beacon's initiation exam if you're scared of heights?" Nora wondered. "Or do they not throw you off cliffs anymore?"

A small snort escaped Jade as she answered, "No, they still throw people off cliffs. Mostly I made it through because I'd practiced my landing strategy a lot before I became scared of heights."

"Well, I guess that's one way to do it. Hey, it's almost four; go wake up Aurum, will ya?"

As the cat girl took her place at the top of the watchtower, she couldn't help but take notice of the sky. There were so many more stars visible here than there were in Vale or even at her home on Patch.

She didn't say anything, not being a fan of conversation at this hour. After answering a few questions with grunts or monosyllables, Nora got the hint and stopped talking. Aurum might be used to getting up early, but not _this_ early; she had to keep pinching herself to stay awake. It was nearing six when Nora asked if she could leave for a few minutes. Aurum shrugged, which the Huntress appeared to take as a yes; she vanished down the stairs, and a moment later emerged from the door at the base of the tower.

It was about ten minutes later that she returned, carrying a tray. Aurum squinted at it, but trying to make out the contents was a wasted effort, even with superior Faunus vision. Still, it was six o'clock now, which meant her shift was over. Yawning, she made her way downstairs, where her teammates were beginning to stir.

Nora reached the room a few seconds after Aurum. She began passing out mugs, saying, "Hot drinks for everyone! I got you all bag lunches too."

It _was_ pretty impressive that Nora had managed to recall their coffee preferences, especially since it had only been a couple of years since most of them had developed a taste for it, but her selection was flawless. Skye noticed Aurum raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her, and in response she sighed and made a go-ahead motion. Lifting Aurum's coffee ban for the duration of their mission seemed pretty safe. Maybe she'd been a little hasty in banning the Faunus from it completely… _Something to consider._

Nora then began passing out paper bags. "We can get you some breakfast before we head out, but then you're on your own until dinnertime. There's sandwiches, fruit, and cookies in here, so that should last you. Let's see…" She glanced inside each bag, then began passing them out. "PB&J for Indie, ham and cheese for Skye and Jade, and tuna salad for Aurum. Enjoy!" Clearly it wasn't just their coffee preferences she'd memorized.

There was a slight hiccup as they pulled themselves together for the day: Skye couldn't for the life of her get her hair to cooperate without the use of her regular hair products. After a solid ten minutes of struggling with it, Nora finally took matters into her own hands. Literally. She had Skye's hair braided, coiled, and pinned into its usual style in ninety seconds flat. Skye was completely dumbfounded as she glanced in the mirror.

After they'd bought some bagels from a food cart, Nora started breaking down the plan. "I want you to split into pairs and patrol the forest. Make sure you stay within range of communication. If you run into something you can't deal with on your own, _do not engage_. Call me and the other team for backup _immediately_ and then get out of its way. I trust your judgement on whether or not you can handle a threat. If nothing else happens, we'll meet back here at five."

Indie nibbled on half her bagel, then tucked the other half into her lunch sack. She wore a small backpack underneath her hood, which her quiver could attach to. The paper bag disappeared into the pack, and in its place was a metal water bottle. "I'll go with Skye but I need to fill this first."

Nora nodded approvingly at her. "Yes, make sure you stay hydrated out there. Everyone all right with those pairs?"

Aurum nodded. Jade shrugged. Skye was already glancing at the trees, wondering how many monsters she'd be adding to her tally on this mission.

"All right, then! Go team!" Nora cheered.

xxxxx

Aurum's stomach was growling louder than a Beowolf by the time she and Jade returned to the village that evening. They'd managed to exterminate more than a dozen Grimm over the course of the day.

They were the first ones back, but they could clearly tell that Nora had run into some kind of opposition: the remains of a pink, heart-shaped explosion was still visible in the air. It wasn't too far, and soon the woman herself appeared, grinning like she'd just won the lottery.

"Hey kiddos. Have fun out there?"

"Yeah!" Aurum stuck her fists in the air. "But I wish we could have fought something less boring. The Grimm around here are the same ones we have at Beacon; fighting Ursai got old before the end of first semester."

Nora shrugged. "Such is life. Although I wouldn't have minded tackling something more fun myself."

"You're a terrible influence on her," Jade grumbled.

"Don't be silly; I'm a bad influence on _everyone_!" Nora was wearing her signature not-entirely-sane grin as she said it.

Jade was saved from having to respond to _that_ statement when Aurum pointed over to the forest. "There's Indie and Skye now."

Nora and Jade both squinted in the direction she'd indicated, even though they probably wouldn't be able to spot the two for another couple minutes.

As they got closer, though, Aurum noticed that Skye had several pulls in her dress, and a number of scratches on her arms and legs. That was… odd, to say the least. If Skye had her aura up, she shouldn't have any injuries at all, but if her aura had been broken, the scratches wouldn't be semi-healed like they were… She tried to think of what could have happened.

Nora had apparently noticed the same thing. Raising an eyebrow at the heiress, she asked, "What happened here?"

Skye scowled. "Got into a disagreement with a blackberry bush. I don't wanna talk about it."

Aurum couldn't help snickering.

Skye glared at her. "I know where you sleep."

Still chuckling, Aurum turned to head back into the watchtower. Before she made it inside, though, she caught a glimpse of something that annoyed her far more than it should have. Despite presumably having covered several miles in her patrol today, Nora's pink and white boots were completely spotless, as always. _How unfair…_

Once inside and somewhat lighter after ditching their packs, Nora called for the team to meet in the kitchen. "All right, I want a list of all the Grimm you managed to take out today. We'll do this every day at the end of patrol, and I'll add my own tally as well. That's one of the things I'll have to cover in my mission report, so I want to make sure we're keeping on top of it. At the end of the mission, I'll add up the total number and put that on your evaluation."

Jade was the first to speak up. "We tangled with a small pack of Beowolves. Eight in total, including the Alpha. Not all that difficult to take down. Two medium-sized Deathstalkers and three Taijitus of various sizes, but all smaller than average." She was trying hard to sound professional. Nora carefully noted the numbers in a column on her scroll.

"We found two Ursai that were pretty big—one might have qualified as an Ursa Major. If not, it was close. Half a dozen lone Beowolves." Indie didn't sound nearly as formal. Nora recorded the numbers in a separate column, then created a third one for herself.

"I found an Ursa Major myself, but a couple grenades to the face and it went down easy. That was the most exciting thing, but I also stumbled on a large burrow that was probably dug by a Creep, so we definitely need to keep an eye on that. I'll show you where it is tomorrow." She saved the data, then folded up her scroll and tucked it into her skirt pocket. She'd added some black lightning bolt designs to the pink fabric since the last time they'd seen her. "You all did great out there today. Keep it up."

 **If tuna isn't the kind of thing that can be made into stir-fry, I apologize. I just wanted to showcase Aurum's love of all things fish, and as a non-seafood eater, it was harder than I thought.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	13. Mission Complete

**I own nothing except my OCs.**

 **Mission Complete**

Indie looked over her Dust supply for what she sincerely hoped was the last time on this mission. She still had plenty of water Dust, and a little bit of wind and gravity left, but… "Does anyone have any fire Dust I can use? I'm all out."

Skye shook her head. "I'm almost out too."

"Big surprise there," Jade teased her. "Have you used _any_ Dust besides fire on this mission? You know what Scarlatina's gonna say about _that_ when we get back."

"I don't have any either," Aurum volunteered.

Nora poked her head into the room. "We about ready to head out for the day?"

Indie held up her empty Dust vials. "I'm out of fire Dust. Right now I don't have anything more destructive than water in any quantity."

"Hmmm…" Nora considered that for a moment, then reached into one of her skirt pockets and withdrew something. "Will this work?"

Indie glanced at the vial the woman was holding. It was full of powdered Dust that was pale yellow in color. _Figures Nora carries lightning Dust on her all the time…_ "Yeah, that'll work! Are you saying I can use this?"

Nora nodded. "Just this once, all right?"

Indie gratefully accepted the small vial. There was enough in it that she could load all of her blank arrowheads from it and still have more than half of it left. Reloading in the field was easy and only took about thirty seconds, but why wait? She quickly loaded the Dust into the arrows and then made to pocket the vial, but as her hand moved, something on it caught her attention.

Etched into the glass was the emblem of a lotus flower formed by two crossed lightning bolts. It was clearly a combination of Ren's lotus and Nora's lightning emblems, but that wasn't what was so interesting. Years ago, Nora had insisted on getting the original sketch framed, and last Indie knew, it was hanging on the wall in their living room. It wasn't anything fancy, just a pencil sketch, but the artist's signature was still visible in the corner, the letters shaped in the crooked hand of a four-year-old: _JXL_.

Indie nudged Jade with her elbow and when the other girl turned and looked, held up the vial. Jade looked confused at first, then startled as she recognized the design as one of her own.

As had become routine, breakfast was bought from a cart. They'd made it a point to sample as many different things as possible. This morning's choice was a spicy egg dish from Vacuo. Aurum barely paused to breathe as she inhaled it, while Indie was going at a more normal pace. Skye had taken one bite from her own helping and practically had steam coming out of her ears; Jade was laughing so hard at her partner's predicament that she hadn't yet touched her own food.

As Nora cheerfully haggled with the cart owner, Skye pulled at her hair. She was seriously considering getting it cut short if it kept bothering her like this. Jade and Indie had the right idea.

Nora had gotten her card back from the vendor and was starting to wolf down her own plateful (Nora liked food. A _lot_. There was at least as much in her hands as SAIJ was eating between the four of them) when a voice from behind asked, "'Scuse me… Ms. Valkyrie?"

The team turned to see a girl of eleven or twelve addressing their mentor. Nora smiled at her. "Just Nora, please. I'm not big on formality."

The girl bobbed her head once, then continued, "Nora…" She scuffed her bare feet in the dirt for a moment, seeming to gather her courage, then blurted, "Do you know anybody who'd be willing to sponsor an aspiring Huntress?"

Nora took a minute to look over the girl more carefully, allowing the members of SAIJ to do the same. Her messy ponytail was a shade of dirty blonde, and her clothes had seen better days. The gray t-shirt and jeans she was wearing were both faded and threadbare, and she had no shoes. She was also extremely skinny—not in an unhealthy way so much as it looked like she'd recently grown several inches, and her body hadn't yet adjusted. Despite her overall scruffy appearance, her blue eyes were lively. Nora finally answered her, slowly. "My partner and I have been known to sponsor students ourselves. You… you're looking to enroll at Flare? What kind of time frame are you thinking about?"

"Uh-huh." This was accompanied by a nod. "I did all the research. I turn thirteen next month, so I can enroll for the next school year. But I can't afford it. Our village Huntsman said he can't afford to sponsor me, but told me there was someone else coming here I could ask."

"I see…" Nora tilted her head to the side, considering. _Really, she's almost thirteen?_ "Have you thought about where you'll live while you're there? The primary schools aren't residential like the senior academies." She waited for the girl to shake her head. "Well, I can ask around, see who's willing to host you for four years, but I don't think it'll be a problem to find someone. Have you talked it over with your parents? I'll need to speak with them…"

She was cut off by an emphatic head shake. "My dad died last year. He was in the fields and a big Ursa came through… it killed three people before our Huntsman managed to slice it up. I live with the Argyle family now."

A flicker of emotion flashed over Nora's face for a brief instant, but it was gone before the small girl could notice. "Well, then I'll need to speak with the Argyles. Do they know about your plans to become a Huntress?" Another nod. "Then I suggest you fill out Flare Academy's online application, with them to help you. There's no application fee, but I'll warn you it's long, so you should start right away. I'm in the middle of a mission at the moment, but I promise I'll come back here soon and see about finding you a place to live, all right? But first… you haven't told me your name."

The girl looked startled as she realized that she hadn't yet introduced herself. "I'm Citrine. Citrine Glacia."

xxxxx

They were about to call it a day and start heading back when Jade's scroll buzzed. Retrieving it from her pocket, she registered Aurum's ID on the screen before answering. "What's happening?"

"Something's coming. Something big. Skye's calling Nora. Can you get a lock on our location?"

Jade quickly tapped the "locate" icon. "We're zeroing in on you now." A ding sounded. "Got it. See you in a few."

Using the coordinates provided by the scroll, Jade and Indie made their way through the trees as fast as possible. Both of them were breathing heavily by the time they emerged from the brush and found themselves on a small track where Skye and Aurum were waiting for them. Nora burst out of the thick trees only a moment later.

"All right, what's going on?"

Aurum spoke up. "I don't know what's coming, but it's big. I felt vibrations in the ground and now I can hear it moving. It's coming this way; this roadway isn't used very often, but it's a lot quicker moving on cleared ground like this. We have a few minutes before it gets here."

Nobody bothered to refute her statement, trusting her heightened senses in this situation. The team took a moment to double-check their weapons, ensuring they were ready to face this thing—whatever it was—as soon as it was in range. A minute later, a _crash_ sounded that was audible even to the humans. A long, armored appendage came into view. Followed by another. And another.

Nora spoke a single word. "Arachnopod."

Skye and Indie stared at her. Arachnopods—giant spider Grimm—weren't common in this part of Sanus. They preferred hot, dry environments, and were most often found in Vacuo and the wilds of Menagerie. This one was either lost, or (more likely, judging by its size) intelligent enough that it had decided to leave its preferred habitat in order to surprise prey.

Nora took a split second to size up the situation, then pointed at a nearby maple. "Indie. Tree."

The hooded girl immediately darted toward the tree she'd indicated and began scaling the trunk. Seconds later she was fifty feet up, perched on a sturdy branch overlooking the roadway.

"Skye. When it gets here, hold it in place."

The swordswoman summoned a series of glyphs to lift herself into a tree across from Indie, although only about ten feet above the ground. Once there, she flicked Gladiola's chamber to gravity Dust and prepared to cast again.

"Aurum, take it from the left; Jade, from the right." With that parting statement, the Huntress leaped into the maple and continued to jump until she'd joined Indie on her branch. The two remaining girls headed to their respective assignments and readied themselves.

The Grimm was in no hurry. It was clearly targeting them, but it was taking its time, possibly a tactic to scare its prey even more. Nora converted her weapon into its full-size hammer mode, then crouched down next to the archer. "These things are tough; there's no use trying to attack the legs. But you see that dark spot in the middle of its body?"

Indie squinted at the thing, managing to make out a roughly circular shape on its back that was noticeably darker than the surrounding armor. She nodded.

"That's its weak spot, where its armor is thinnest. The darkness is actually its shadowy body showing through. The only way to get through it is to hit it hard in that exact spot. That's where you come in. When I jump out of the tree, I need you to make sure I'm aimed properly. Got it?"

Indie nodded her head again, then as Nora stood, muttered, "Just like a video game."

The beast had almost reached the place Nora had indicated earlier. A few more moments passed, then… "Skye, _now_!"

A black glyph immediately formed underneath the giant spider, preventing it from moving. Jade and Aurum both moved in from the sides, catching its attention and giving the two in the tree the opportunity they needed. Nora gave a cheerful yet eerily sinister smile, then launched herself off the branch, yelling, "Bombs away!"

As Nora plummeted through the air, whirling her hammer to build up momentum, she was visibly surrounded by the pink glow of her aura, along with a second glow in white. Usually the sign of Indie's semblance wasn't obvious unless you knew what to look for (and even then it was hard to see—a white aura wasn't all that noticeable on small, fast-moving objects) but when she was using it on another person, their own aura became visible as well.

"YaaaaaAAAAA!" Nora shrieked as the full force of her swing caught the spider-Grimm directly in the center of its body.

"Bulls-eye," Indie whispered, with a satisfied smirk; the words went unheard by anyone but herself.

The monster had been smashed flat by the force of the blow, the resulting shock wave blasting Jade and Aurum off their feet and throwing them back several yards. But the battle wasn't over yet. As Jade emerged from the trees, one of the Grimm's legs pinwheeled around and clipped her feet out from under her; she landed in the exact same bush she'd extricated herself from a few moments earlier.

Skye, thinking fast, drove the point of her saber straight down, closing her eyes and concentrating. Another glyph became visible on the ground, and a moment later, the light blue form of an Alpha Beowolf began to take shape. As soon as it was fully formed, the thrall lunged forward, delivering a savage blow to the already weakened Arachnopod. Skye slumped back on her perch. This Alpha was the only summons she had so far, and while she didn't have the same problems her mother had had, summoning still took a certain amount of willpower. There wasn't much else she could do from here, but it looked like the three on the ground had it well in hand at this point. The Alpha roared and swiped at the creature again, sending it careening off to the side. Its legs became tangled in the low branches of an evergreen, effectively trapping it.

"Batter up!" Nora yelled, swinging her hammer at the thing's center before it could regain its footing. The swing was plenty powerful by itself, but a moment later a single grenade was fired point-blank into the Grimm's unarmored body.

At that kind of close range, one was all that was necessary. The giant spider went limp, and as the team watched, began to dissolve.

"Everyone all right?" Nora glanced around, taking stock of her charges. Other than the twigs tangled in Aurum's hair and Skye's general exhaustion, they were all fine. "You did good. What say we all head back, and you can have until first watch to explore the town?"

xxxxx

There was a celebratory feeling in the air as the group returned to the village proper. An opponent like that Arachnopod was an incredible test of their abilities; the fact that they'd been able to take it out, even with a professional Huntress to guide them, spoke volumes about their skill. Skye was already contemplating ways to adjust the strategy they'd used so it could be utilized by just the four of them.

Jade in particular was excited to explore the village she'd visited before and share it with her teammates. As Skye poked suspiciously at a brightly colored piece of something in her taco (she did _not_ like spicy food, and after this morning she didn't trust her teammates even when they _swore_ it wasn't that bad), Jade began searching through the stalls for a vendor she'd seen before. The team kept getting distracted. Aurum stopped to examine a textile booth filled with colorfully woven throw rugs with designs that clearly originated in Mistral. Indie was drawn in by a metal-worker's stand, filled with unusual jewelry pieces. Many booths selling food offered free samples, and it quickly became a game to see whether or not they could try them all and still get to every stall.

The fun evening was over much too soon, and the team returned to the watchtower that would be their base of operations for another few hours.

As everyone but Skye, who had first watch, settled into their sleeping bags, Indie asked, "Nora, can you tell us one of your stories?"

Nora glanced at her. "What ones haven't you heard a dozen times before?"

"Please?" Jade begged. "They're still fun to hear even if we've heard them before."

Skye had been about to head up the stairs, but at the possibility of a bedtime story, paused. "I wouldn't mind hearing one myself."

"Ugh, you too?" Nora pretended to be annoyed, but there was clearly a smile trying to break loose. As four pairs of pleading eyes stared at the Huntress, she glanced from one to the next. When she got to Aurum, she did a double take. "Kitty ears _and_ puppy eyes? How's that even possible?"

Aurum's pleading gaze intensified.

"That level of cuteness should be illegal," Nora muttered. One set of puppy-dog eyes she could resist with no problem; four was pushing it. "Fine, if you insist…"

She launched into a story they'd all heard before, but crazy, action-packed tales like that never got old. Skye hadn't believed it the first time, but Nora had dared her to double-check with Ren, who had confirmed that every word was true. Still, it was such a wild tale that she could barely imagine it. The story was better than some action movies.

Skye's shift on watch was uneventful. She woke Aurum at two in the morning, then gratefully fell into her sleeping bag. Aurum stared out at the horizon, keeping an eye on the forest's edge, but letting her thoughts wander. She decided to wake the team early so they could get ready for the day of travel ahead of them. By six-thirty, all of their gear was packed and breakfast had been eaten. Nora had cautioned them to take some food with them for the trip, and as they loaded their packs onto their backs and headed out, Indie turned and looked behind her. The watchtower had been their home base for their first real mission, and she would always remember this moment.

The airship became visible a few minutes before seven, and fifteen minutes later, was resting on the waves. The same citizen who had piloted the boat on their arrival stood at the throttle now.

As they swung themselves onto the ship and settled in for the ride, no entertainment was visible. Skye and Aurum immediately braced themselves against the side wall and conked out; being on watch overnight had taken its toll. Indie and Jade were in better shape, but they were still plenty tired. Nora was the only one more than semi-awake, and her indomitable cheerfulness would no doubt be welcome later, but at the moment she was calmly tapping out something on her scroll.

Jade finally croaked out, "Whacha doin'?"

Nora glanced over at her. "Filling out the mission report, marking it as completed, and also finishing your eval form. All good things, I promise; you all did _great_ out there. I'm super proud of you, and so will everyone else once they hear about it."

That was all Jade wanted to hear. She finally let her eyes close and drifted off. She wasn't exactly _asleep_ ; it was more like that halfway between waking and sleeping point where you found yourself in the morning before your alarm went off. Only somewhat aware of the time passing, she remained in that state until the airship was only a few minutes from touching down at Beacon Academy.

 **Nora had** _ **almost**_ **as much fun bashing around the giant spider as I had writing the whole thing.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	14. Encounters

**Wow, I am not the slightest bit productive when I'm on vacation! Who knew? I'm glad I had this little cushion built in.**

 **I do not own RWBY. I'm just having some fun playing around with the characters.**

 **Encounters**

The airship gently touched down on the landing pad outside Beacon. The five passengers piled out, Aurum half-awake and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her teammates were all relatively alert.

Nora looked them over critically. "Well, our mission is officially complete. I'm technically no longer responsible for you, so you can return to your room if you want. You probably all want to shower and relax a bit."

Indie glanced around at her teammates, who shrugged at her in turn. "Do you wanna come with? We haven't had the chance to really catch up since we were trying to be all official and everything."

Nora's professional demeanor evaporated as her grin widened. "Do I ever! I definitely wanna see if your setup's as crazy as RWBY's was." She followed the team to the dorm building, up the stairs, and through the hall. SAIJ's room was at the other end of the hallway. Jade held her scroll to the sensor and the door opened. All four started forward… then stopped as a small whirlwind bowled into them, knocking them everywhere.

"Hey!" Nora made an expert swing and ended up with a fistful of the attacker's arm. The whirlwind resolved itself into a small girl. "Lian Pyrrha Valkyrie, what do you think you're doing in SAIJ's room?!"

Lian giggled, her bright, intense green eyes lighting up. Her glossy black hair was neatly parted down the middle and arranged into two braids, one resting on either shoulder and tied with little pink bows. She wore a short-sleeved black dress with a design of circles and lines that resembled circuitry in green, and she appeared to have adopted Jade's image of lightning bolts forming a lotus as her emblem; the image was set on the left side of her skirt in the same pink as her hair ribbons. She paired the dress with black sneakers. "I was waiting for you, Mom. Beacon is so much more exciting than staying with Blake!"

"Uh- _huh_." Skye narrowed her eyes at the tiny girl. "And how'd you get in? The system's set up so only team members and teachers have access."

Lian shrugged. "Wasn't hard; I just had to bypass the firewall and reconfigure the security protocol to give myself access. Oh, and I had to check the mission database too, to figure out where you were and when you were coming back."

Nora looked like she couldn't decide whether to collapse to the floor in helpless laughter or scold her daughter like a responsible parent. Luckily, the second option won out. Taking the little girl by the shoulders, she made Lian look at her and said seriously, "Lian, did you tell Blake you were leaving?"

Lian sheepishly shook her head. Before she could say anything, the door across the hall opened and Cerulea stuck her head out.

"What's all the racket out here?"

Aurum pointed at Lian, having no problem with selling out the cybersneak. "Pipsqueak here hacked her way into our room."

"I'm _not_ a pipsqueak," Lian grumbled.

"You sure look like a pipsqueak to me!" Indie teased her. "What are you now, eight?"

"I'm _eleven_!" Lian tackled the archer and the two tussled for a few moments, until the small girl skipped off down the hall… wearing Indie's hood that she'd stolen right off her neck. Cerulea had wisely ducked back into her team's room.

"Hey, give that back!"

Lian kept giggling and hid behind Nora.

"Whoa, I don't think so." Nora carefully pulled the girl out from behind her. "You wanna be a Huntress, you fight your own battles. Give it back."

With a pout, Lian handed the accessory back to its owner. Indie fastened it back around her neck where it belonged and then asked, "So… do you want to do some sparring while you're here?"

"Yeah!" Lian agreed enthusiastically. "I think I could beat you, too!"

"Ooh, shots fired," Aurum teased. "Awful big talk from someone who doesn't have her semblance yet!"

At the reminder, Lian's expression became somewhat annoyed... though still adorable. "I still have time to find it before I start Beacon."

"Yes you do," Nora assured her. "I was thirteen before I found mine. However…" She narrowed her eyes at the small girl and spoke in a deadly serious tone. "If you even _think_ about trying to find yours the way I found mine, I will lock you in your bedroom and swallow the key, understand?"

Apparently deciding that getting struck by lightning wasn't worth her mother's wrath, Lian nodded.

"And I'll give you the next few days to spend some time with SAIJ, but when we get home, you're grounded for two weeks."

"What?! Grounded?" Lian protested. "What for?"

Nora began listing things off on her fingers. "You left without telling Blake where you were going. You came to Beacon without permission. You hacked the school security system, and I'm not sure if breaking and entering falls under that or if it's a separate offense. Need I continue?"

"But two whole weeks?"

"It can start now if you'd rather." Nora held her ground and raised a single eyebrow in challenge, daring her daughter to argue. Lian slumped against the wall.

"O _kay_ …"

xxxxx

Classes were no longer in session, but the school operated year-round as a base for Huntsmen and Huntresses. Many lived on campus, either permanently (like the teachers) or temporarily. There was also "semi-permanent" housing, for those who needed a place to stay for more than a few days, but didn't plan on sticking around for several months. As a result, the school was as lively during academic breaks as it was during the school year.

Skye decided that a good use of time over the break would be to do some basic sparring, but also taking the time out to do some fun stuff in Vale. There was always some new book or video game to buy. It didn't make sense to spend _all_ their free time training, especially when the new semester would be starting up before they knew it. But she wasn't going to cut it out of their schedules completely, either.

"I'm headed for the gym. Any takers?"

Skye glanced over at the door, where Aurum was standing in her workout gear and a water bottle in her hand. "Not right now." She hefted the novel she currently had her face buried in. "Just catching up on a little light reading."

Jade shrugged. "I'll go. Just let me change first." She vanished into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later in her own workout clothes. From her own bunk, Indie didn't give any indication that she'd even heard the invitation. Jade lobbed an apple at her and the blue head popped over the side of the bunk in response, headphones dangling off one ear.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Jade and Aurum both held up their weapons, although Indie had already taken notice of their attire. She cocked her head to the side, considering, then shook her head. "Thanks for asking, but evil wizards aren't gonna vanquish themselves!" She held up her scroll, which was open to some kind of medieval fantasy game.

"Suit yourself," Aurum answered. "We'll be in the gym if you need us." With that parting statement, the tall girl and the Faunus left the room.

The gym was pretty much empty, with most of the students out on missions at the moment. In fact, the room's only other occupant was a small girl whaling on one of the sandbags, her pigtails bobbing with each blow.

Seeing the two enter, Lian cheerfully ran over to the doorway to greet them. "Did'ja come to see how much better I've gotten since last time?"

Jade shook her head, smiling. "No, we came to do some training. With each other," she added, when Lian's green eyes lit up. "We need to stay combat ready at all times. That doesn't include sparring with pipsqueaks like you." She playfully reached out and ruffled the girl's hair.

Lian only narrowed her eyes in a way that was _uncannily_ reminiscent of her mother, and then declared, "Oh, I get it. You're too scared to fight me."

"Hey!" Aurum took a swipe at the girl. " _Nobody_ calls me a coward, got it? Let's go, right now."

"Yay!" Lian dashed into one corner and began setting up mats.

Jade grabbed onto Aurum's arm before the Faunus could follow. "Are you sure this is a good idea? She _is_ still seven years younger than us, and half my size."

Aurum shrugged. "I gotta say, I'm curious if she can back up all that talk. I'll take it easy to start with. Besides, tiny people are terrifying: Weiss, Ruby, Nora…"

Jade considered for a moment, then let go of Aurum, nodding. It _was_ probably a good idea to let Lian work off some of her energy in a contained environment like this; she wouldn't put it past the preteen to disappear and start hunting down actual Grimm to practice on. And she had a point about tiny people being terrifying, though Jade noticed that Aurum had left herself off that list.

Both girls took their stances in the center of the room, Aurum readying Aurora Blaze while Lian hefted a practice sword that was nearly as tall as she was. As the fight began, Jade found herself becoming more and more impressed. Starting when she was four, Lian had tried several different sports in an effort to work off some of her energy, and had settled on gymnastics. Her lessons were after school four days a week as well as on Saturday mornings (she also enjoyed swimming, but there wasn't a competitive league for her age bracket). Her acrobatic fighting style was clearly based off of that, and while she didn't have her mother's raw strength, her gymnastics training had built up her muscles enough that she could swing the large sword easily.

The two were moving so quickly that Jade couldn't keep track of their strikes. However, she could still get an idea of the fight. Aurum was clearly the better fighter, experience giving her the edge, but Lian was far more advanced than most her age, and was managing to hold her own.

"Break time!" she called after the fight had been going on for over ten minutes.

"Huh?" Lian looked disappointed.

"I mean it." Jade shook her water bottle at the girl. "It's important to keep up with taking care of yourself."

A sudden burst of applause from the doorway caught their attention. Nora was clapping her hands with a huge grin on her face. Ren stood next to her; the two had clearly been watching their daughter fight. Aubergine, Cerulea, and Kage were all watching the throwdown as well.

Aurum gently shoved the girl toward her parents, then directed her gaze toward Aubergine. "You made it back! How was it? Where's the rest of your team?"

Aubergine shrugged. "Still asleep." She punctuated her statement with a yawn.

"We made it back to Beacon around two-thirty this morning," Ren volunteered. "I let the team go back to their dorm while I filled out their evaluation."

Jade pulled a face. Two-thirty in the morning… ick.

Nora glanced their way. "Anyway, we're headed home. I had a lot of fun with you all this last week!"

"Aww…" Lian pouted. "I don't wanna leave."

"Sure you just don't wanna be grounded?" Nora put her hands on her hips. "You should have thought of that earlier!"

"But…" Lian started to protest.

"No buts." Nora folded her arms. "I have no problem tossing you over my shoulder and carrying you out of here like a sack of potatoes."

Lian looked like she was considering arguing, then nodded. Aurum thought that was probably smart. Nora was definitely crazy enough to go through with it.

The small family left, Lian waving to them as they exited. Aubergine plopped down on the floor next to Aurum. "You can't be telling me that the guy who barely said a dozen words to us all week is related to that… human ping-pong ball."

Aurum snickered. "Don't be fooled, he thrives on chaos."

"No kidding. I only met that kid for like five minutes and I could tell she's a handful." Aubergine considered. "She's small and cute but deadly. I can't believe she was able to hold her own against you."

"She's eleven, and she's got big plans to skip primary combat school and enroll directly at Beacon when she turns fifteen," Aurum replied, grinning.

"Wait, an eleven-year-old was just able to take you on? A teeny tiny eleven-year-old at that." Aubergine paused a moment. "And Beacon accepts students as young as fifteen?"

Aurum nodded. "It's usually legacies that apply that early, but the option is there. It's just that no primary school accepts students under thirteen, and it's usually a four-year program, so most people don't start secondary training until they're at least seventeen. But not everyone goes to a primary school, either. Jade was essentially homeschooled, and Skye went to an Atlesian prep school and was privately tutored in combat to the point where she didn't need to take the entrance exams. Lian… plans to do something else. She wants to continue going to public school and be taught combat by her parents, and apply for early entrance as soon as she's allowed to."

 _Aubergine is really pretty…_

Aurum froze. Where had _that_ thought come from? Aubergine was definitely more "sparring partner" than "potential girlfriend" … right? Well, there was only one thing to do in this situation. Bolting to her feet, she sputtered, "I… I gotta go!" and sprinted from the room.

xxxxx

Deciding that it was a good day to visit Vale, Indie and Aurum found themselves in Jade's favorite bookstore. Aurum began browsing comics while Indie struck up a conversation with the store owner about getting in more nonfiction works. She especially liked to read the biographies of famous Huntsmen in history, and see if anything about them could be applied to her own life. Ilia had teased her more than once that she was going to be the first Huntress in history to learn combat by reading a textbook. Ruby always took Indie's side on this, pointing out the old saying about either learning from history or repeating it.

Thinking about her parents, Indie was struck by a sudden wave of guilt. She was by far the most introverted member of her team, and she'd been that way at Signal too. Her parents weren't overprotective of her like Weiss was of Skye, but she knew they worried about her… and she hadn't called them in weeks. She made a mental note to do that this evening.

After making her requests, she made her way over to the fiction section. Graphic novels were located along one wall, where Aurum was still checking out various comic books the store currently had on display. She had a handful selected already.

It was probably a good thing that Skye and Jade hadn't come with them. If they had, they never would have made it anywhere else. As it was, more than an hour had passed by the time the two teens exited the shop with their purchases.

Aurum pointed out a coffee shop her family had frequented when she was younger and still living in the main kingdom. The cafe boasted reasonable prices and was family-friendly, so many of the patrons were working citizens with young children. Even better, the lunch rush was mostly over, so there wasn't a line and they were able to order their food quickly. Indie decided to try a grilled vegetable panini, while Aurum got the soup and salad combo that she had developed a taste for.

They'd snagged a table and mostly finished their food when Aurum suggested dessert. Indie didn't argue, but noted the serving sizes and asked if they could split one. Aurum shrugged, conceding, and went back up to the counter to order. They were about to leave when someone called their names. Nora was seated at a corner table, with a plate and a mug in front of her.

"Nice to see ya, kiddos!"

Aurum giggled. "You too." Both girls then took note of the other woman seated at the table. "Oh, hello Professor."

Emerald Planis nodded to the teenagers and raised her coffee mug in greeting.

Indie took note of the mug Nora was holding. "Nora, are you… drinking coffee?" Aurum took an involuntary step back.

"It's decaf!" Nora singsonged, wagging the cup at them. The two instantly relaxed. Nora didn't make any attempt to hide the fact that she was laughing at them.

Their somewhat standoffish teacher surprised them both by putting one hand over her mouth and letting out a soft chuckle.

"We should probably get going," Indie told the two older women, glancing at her scroll. "We still have lots of things to do today, and we spent a lot of time in the bookstore already."

"Yeah, go have fun," Nora dismissed, waving a hand. "It was nice seeing you, though, and I'll see you next week at the family dinner!"

xxxxx

As soon as the door had swung shut behind the teens, Nora turned back to her dining companion. "Are you that distant with all your students, or just them?"

Emerald suddenly looked guilty. "Just… just them." She sighed and stared down into her cup. "The first day of classes… seeing their names triggered another flashback."

Nora narrowed her eyes. "I thought you weren't getting those anymore."

"It was the first one in a while, and I haven't had any _since_ … but I had to dismiss the class early so nobody would catch on." Emerald closed her eyes and slumped back in her seat. "If it's going to create problems like this, maybe… maybe I shouldn't be a teacher anymore."

"Wrong."

Emerald looked back up, startled.

Nora was staring at her intensely. "You've been teaching at Beacon for over a decade, and you've done a damn good job of it. There's people out there who would have died if it weren't for your classes. All the staff know about you, and they don't care. And now you think you should just… give up?" She waited for a moment, then continued when Emerald didn't respond, "What you really need to do is see someone about your flashbacks. They've been going on for over twenty years now. Mental health is just as important as anything you teach, and yet you're ignoring yours. And _no_ , you are not crazy and you are not using your semblance on yourself accidentally."

Emerald opened her mouth, then closed it again. After a moment her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Maybe you're right. Glynda's been hinting the same thing. I'll talk to her tomorrow, see if she can recommend anyone… discreet."

Nora nodded. "Good."

As the two left the café and headed their separate ways, Emerald reflected on the circumstances that had led to her unlikely friendship with the younger woman. She'd been teaching at Beacon for two years when Nora had literally run into her in the hallway after returning from a mission. Emerald had immediately recognized the cheerful pink Huntress and had tried to leave quickly, but Nora had insisted on buying her lunch to apologize for bowling her over. Emerald had found it impossible to say no. After they'd finished, Nora had fixed her intense green gaze on the ex-thief and asked her directly.

 _Why are you teaching at the school you tried to destroy?_

Emerald had been shocked to realize that Nora recognized her. _I like working here. I… enjoy teaching._

 _Hmmm…_ Nora had narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. _I guess if Glynda trusts you to do a good job, then it's all right with me._

She'd left it at that, but Emerald had had another question. _How did you recognize me?_

 _Well, you look different enough that I couldn't tell at first, then I saw the way you were eating and I knew. I remember from before, how you always eat everything as fast as possible, like you don't know when you'll eat next, or you're afraid someone will take it away from you._

Emerald had been struck speechless by Nora's observation. She certainly did treat her food that way (one of the reasons she hadn't protested _too_ much at Nora buying her lunch—her personal code wouldn't let her turn down free food) even though she hadn't had to scrabble for meals in years. Old habits died hard. _You… noticed that?_

 _A regular person wouldn't, but… I was the same way for a long time. I remember how it feels to go so long without eating that you're not hungry anymore, just numb. I remember the desperation, pawing through a trash bin in search of something edible. It's not something I'll ever forget._

It had been more than a year later, after they'd become good friends, that Emerald had finally worked up the nerve to ask why Nora didn't hold a grudge for all the things that she'd done on Cinder's orders. She'd long since come to the realization that her relationship with Cinder had been unhealthy, emotionally manipulative at best and crossing the line into physical abuse more than once, but that time in her life was still painful to talk about. Nora had only shrugged.

 _I remember living on the street, sleeping under porches, and eating out of the trash. It was… surviving, but not really living. And then I latched onto the first person to treat me with any sort of kindness._ Nora had given her that intense look again. _Sound familiar?_

 _Yeah… it does._ Emerald wasn't sure why knowing that she shared a similar past with the ever-cheerful Huntress had had such an effect on her, but she reasoned that if Nora could survive all that and still be the optimistic person she was, then… maybe she could make an effort to do the same.

 **DAMMIT LIAN YOU WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO MAKE A CAMEO IN THIS CHAPTER AND INSTEAD YOU HIJACKED THE ENTIRE FIRST HALF OF IT! Not cool… Anyway, here's some more antics and an addition to Emerald's backstory.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	15. Time for Family

**A bit of a slower chapter, but hey, they can't** _ **all**_ **have action. Never fear, there are many more fight scenes to come!**

 **I own nothing.**

 **Time for Family**

The "family dinner" that Nora had referred to at the café was a once-a-year, extended RWBY/JNIPR family tradition. Every year, unless extreme circumstances prevented it, the large group would choose a restaurant and catch up on everything that had happened to them in the last year. Over time, the gathering had gone from just the dinner to a several-day family reunion. Right now, they had taken a private room and had ordered their food, but were still waiting for it to be delivered.

Their drinks, however, had already been brought to the table. Yang and Jaune both had beers. Sun had a lemon iced tea in front of him; he was driving home. Next to him, Blake was sipping from a wineglass and looking the tiniest bit smug. Ruby, Ilia, and Nora were all drinking margaritas; Ruby and Nora had both gotten strawberry while Ilia's was peach. Ren had a water glass in front of him. Weiss, who hated alcohol, had instead gotten a decaf iced latte. Aurum and Jade had both opted for mixed drinks, seeing as they were now legal, but Indie, Skye, Aqua, and Lian had all chosen soda instead.

Multiple conversations were taking place at once. Jaune hadn't seen any of them since _last_ year's family reunion; he'd spent all that time in Mistral, dealing with various issues, and was very interested in how SAIJ was doing at Beacon. Nora was recounting how the team had taken down the Arachnopod outside Summerton. A couple baskets of breadsticks had been delivered to the table along with their drinks, and Lian and Skye had snagged two and were currently engaged in an epic carb duel.

Skye claimed victory just as Weiss was finishing up her conversation with Yang and turning to her daughter. "So. Do I ever get to meet this boy you're dating?"

With an eye-roll, Skye replied, "Yes, Mom. If you come by the school sometime, I'll introduce you."

Weiss nodded decisively. "Good. Why didn't you tell me you even had a boyfriend before now?"

Skye shrugged. "Dunno. Why didn't you tell me about _your_ boyfriend?"

"How did you even—" Weiss trailed off and then narrowed her eyes. Very, very slowly, she turned her head to the right and declared, "Nora Valkyrie, you are a _dead_ woman."

Nora had just snagged the last breadstick from the basket and was gnawing on it. Hearing Weiss, she looked down at it. "Di'joo wan' dish?" She swallowed. "Well, too bad. It's mine."

"I wasn't talking about _that_!" Weiss protested.

"Well, then quit hassling me." Nora turned back to her heated discussion with Ilia over the benefits of living on the mainland versus Patch.

"Who is it, anyway?" Skye asked. "Do I get to meet him?"

Weiss was still trying to get Nora to understand that her death threat hadn't had anything to do with food. At Skye's query, she gave up and turned back to the conversation. "You… have actually met him before. But yes, he's picking me up when we're finished here."

Skye mulled it over in her mind. If she'd met him before, that _did_ narrow the field a bit. Not much, but a little. She tuned back in to the conversation just in time to hear Blake tell Jaune and Yang, "I'm actually thinking about retiring."

Aurum wasn't sure she'd heard right. "What, Mom? Retiring?"

Blake quickly shook her head. "Not completely! Just… from active Huntress duty. I'll find some other job that doesn't require me to travel so much, and of course I'll still serve as an advisor to the White Fang."

"What'll you do, though?" Yang wondered.

Blake shrugged. "I could teach. Flare Academy is always looking for qualified teachers. Most licensed Huntsmen prefer to stay in the field as much as possible, so people who don't mind working in a classroom are in high demand. Or… Alabaster Trace has one more year before he retires from Beacon; I could teach Grimm Studies."

Weiss had caught the tail end of the conversation. "Are you qualified to teach Grimm Studies? The requirements at Beacon are much stricter than they are at the primary schools."

Blake shrugged again. "I can't be any worse than Professor Port."

Weiss blinked. "That is… a shockingly valid point."

The various conversations were interrupted by the arrival of their food. Everybody grew quiet as they dug in, and for a few minutes, the only sound was of people enjoying their meals.

Aurum finished her noodles and began eyeing the dessert menu. Across the table, she could see Nora doing the same thing, her plate empty.

Lian was showing Aqua her drawings of potential weapons. He was nodding along, managing to follow. He might have preferred crunching numbers instead of hitting things, but nearly every person in his extended family hunted Grimm for a living, and he did know more than just the basics.

"So this here… this sword has two different forms, and can be used with Dust as well? It's nice… but won't you want some kind of ranged fighting abilities?"

Lian pouted and turned the page. "You like this better? It's got a gun built into it."

Aqua studied the new image. "A collapsible staff? Simple but efficient. I think some kind of blade would still be a good idea."

Yang decided to speak up. "So, uh, SAIJ… I'm curious. Vale is hosting the Vytal Festival next year. Are you going to enter the tournament?"

The four teenage girls glanced between each other. Skye was the one to finally admit, "We… haven't talked about it."

Yang shrugged. "No time like the present!"

"Yeah…" Skye glanced between her teammates. "Well, let's put it to a vote. All in favor of entering the Vytal Festival Tournament next year?"

Aurum's hand immediately shot into the air. Indie did the same, being careful not to hit anyone (they were packed in _really_ tightly together). Jade simply flicked her fingers upward, but it was still a clear affirmative.

"Okay, glad that's settled." Skye looked around the table. "Team SAIJ is officially entering the tournament!"

The table burst into cheers. Skye pulled her scroll out of her pocket and began looking at her list of various attacks, trying to strategize. Some of these techniques were useful in any number of situations, whereas others were limited by terrain, and some were coordinated team attacks, requiring proximity of two or more team members to execute. _So much to think about…_

Jaune raised his beer glass in the air. "To Team SAIJ. May you make it farther in your first tournament than we did!"

"Yeah! Go team!" Aurum yelled, as everyone else at the table raised their own glasses.

Yang looked a little put out by Jaune's statement. "Technically, all three of our teams did make it to the singles matches."

"Hey, good point!" Sun put his hand out. Yang slapped it… then Sun pulled his hand back, yelping. "Yow! Geez, Yang, did you _have_ to use the metal hand?"

Yang only smirked at him as she used said metal hand to flip him off.

Blake glanced at the spectacle over the top of her wineglass. "Don't break him, Yang; I've spent too much time and effort on him to let that happen."

Sun turned to Blake, mock offended. "Time and effort? That's all I am to you?"

Blake's deadpan expression broke into a tiny smirk. "Well, I didn't marry you for your pretty face."

Yang couldn't suppress a snort.

Across the table, Ruby lifted her own glass into the air. "Well, if we're doing that… to Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina, our friends who should be here with us."

Everyone else immediately raised their own drinks again, although this time the mood was more somber. Ilia in particular was contemplating the same thing she always did whenever Pyrrha's name was brought up. She knew full well that it was only due to the generosity of Pyrrha's teammates that she'd been able to become a Huntress at all, and though they had never been anything but welcoming, she had often felt like an outsider. The legendary tournament fighter had been nothing more than a name to her at the time; she'd only learned about the kind of person the other girl had been after joining the team. _I wish I could have known you…_

Lian was also deep in thought, quietly considering the woman she'd never had the chance to meet but who had been such an important part of her parents' lives. She had been named after Pyrrha, at least partially, and it wasn't exactly an easy name to live up to. She'd briefly considered copying Pyrrha's fighting style as a sort of tribute, but had quickly come to the realization that it didn't suit her at all. Still, it was nice that her parents had chosen to name her after someone like that.

Ruby looked around at the tables, noting the solemn expressions that had overtaken most of the occupants. She slammed her hand onto the table in front of her. "No! This is a happy occasion! We need to remember the good times we had with our friends and be honored that we knew them." She looked down. "Even if only for a little while. They were really great people, and they wouldn't want us to be sad on their accounts." Looking back up with a big smile on her face, she continued, "I'll never forget Penny's awesome hugs." Her smile became more nostalgic as she thought about the animated android who had been such a wonderful friend.

"Yeah." Nora propped her chin in her hands. "Remember how Pyrrha threatened to break Cardin's legs after he bullied Jaune and Velvet?"

Ruby cocked her head. "Wait, wasn't breaking his legs _your_ idea, Nora?"

"So?" Nora challenged her.

"Never mind." Ruby shook her head, dismissing the topic.

Yang got a giant shit-eating grin on her face. "I don't think we _ever_ saw Pyrrha so happy as when a certain someone decided he was gonna wear a dress to the dance if she didn't get a date."

Jaune groaned. "Why do you _always_ have to bring that up?"

"Come on, you've got great legs! You should show 'em off a little more often," Yang continued her teasing.

The somber mood had dissipated, as the teams reminisced and shared stories from their own Beacon days. The members of SAIJ added their own stories to the mix. Jade felt an immense sense of relief at the return of the lighthearted atmosphere from earlier. Nearly all the people at this table had a small book of names, the names of the people they'd lost. (Some Huntsmen called these volumes "Books of Death" but she'd always thought that title seemed a little melodramatic. Not to mention it wasn't entirely accurate; Jade had seen her mother's book inscribed with the name _Raven Branwen_ who, to the best of her knowledge, was still alive.) She'd been lucky so far: she hadn't needed to create one for herself yet. The day would no doubt come, and probably sooner rather than later, but until it did, she would continue to enjoy life.

Unfortunately, the evening couldn't last. Nora had fallen asleep with her head on Ren's shoulder, and he was trying unsuccessfully to wake her up. "We really do need to get going; Lian has school tomorrow. Nora—"

"Ooh! I got this!" Lian burst out. Standing, she very loudly directed her voice at her mother. "I think I'll go out and play in a thunderstorm."

Nora's eyes snapped open. "Absolutely not! That is _my_ thing!"

Lian collapsed back in her seat in a fit of laughter. "Mom, it's… heehee… not even raining."

Nora glanced out the window to confirm. "Oh, so you got my hopes up for nothing? Come here, you little—" She began chasing the girl around the room. Lian squealed with laughter.

xxxxx

As the large extended family went their separate ways, Weiss had her towncar pulled around to the front of the restaurant. "You all are heading back to Beacon, right? We'll all fit in here."

The "all" she was referring to only included Skye, Jade, Yang, and Jaune; Aurum and Indie had opted to go home and spend a few days with their respective immediate families. Yang shrugged. "Sure, why not? Beats walking up there, that's for sure."

"Got room for… one more?"

Weiss turned, her face lighting up before she'd even seen the speaker. "Of course!"

Skye paid serious attention as a tall, well-dressed man came into view. She recognized him immediately, of course: Flynt Coal, the very first business partner that Weiss had recruited after taking over the company. More importantly, he was the _only_ business partner who was permitted to address the head of the SDC by her first name. _No way… Mom's dating_ _ **him**_ _? That's… so totally perfect!_ She tried to suppress a smirk as another thought popped into her mind. _I guess Schnee women really go for the musician type…_

She considered him as the car began moving. They had met before, many times; Mom didn't keep him at a distance like she did her other business partners. Skye wasn't sure why exactly, but it could have been a number of reasons. For one thing, Flynt was a Huntsman who, like Weiss, rarely used his license anymore. For another, he was a lot younger than most of the other representatives the SDC did business with.

Skye knew better than to say anything just yet, and it wasn't her decision anyway, but… well, she approved. Although she doubted it would lead anywhere anytime soon. Weiss had said on more than one occasion that she'd rushed into marriage once before and she wouldn't be making the same mistake twice. Still, Skye liked Flynt. When she was a kid, he'd always had a piece of candy or a small toy for her whenever he was in the office, and as she got older, more than once he had noticed her training on his way out and stopped to offer her a piece of advice or just to watch. He was a kind, easygoing person and she wouldn't mind having him as a stepdad _at all._

"Well, are you going to get out, or do you plan to stay in the car all night?"

"Huh?" Skye glanced around. The car was stopped, the engine off… oh, they were parked. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't noticed she was the only one still in the car. A highly amused Weiss was holding the door open for her. "Oh, sorry Mom. I was just… thinking about something." She quickly got out of the vehicle.

"Must've been pretty intense," Yang commented. "Well, I'm gonna turn in. See y'all in the morning."

After a brief head-nod from Skye, Jade also left, heading toward the dorm. The two Schnee women were left alone with Flynt. It was nighttime and he wasn't wearing sunglasses like usual. He smiled at Skye. "Long time no see. How's your training going?"

Skye considered the question. "My team's at the top of our class, but there's only three teams in our year so that doesn't mean much. Although… we completely demolished a second-year team in our combat final, so I guess that counts for a lot."

"That's good to hear." Flynt nodded, and they stood in awkward silence for a minute before he continued, "Ah… listen, Skye…"

She cut him off. "I know you're dating Mom, and… I'm really happy for you both."

Weiss and Flynt both looked startled.

"There's really only one thing I wanna know," Skye continued. "How long has this been going on? It can't have been too long, or else the media would have found out by now."

"Well!" Weiss commented, impressed. "You're absolutely right, it's only been a few months. So far we've managed to keep it to ourselves, but I don't know how much longer we'll be able to pull that off. When it comes to our family, it's only a matter of time before that Karmin Serpentina finds out about it, and then writes some ridiculous piece that only barely resembles the facts."

Skye flinched. She still hadn't told Mom who Zelty was related to. It was fairly common knowledge around Beacon that he'd been disowned by his family for enrolling, but that didn't change the fact that the media would have an absolute field day with their relationship if and when it became public. So, yeah. She could sympathize with her mother's predicament. _But that's a problem for another day._

 **Here, have some feels. I freely admit I cried when the statue of Pyrrha was revealed, although I'm not sure about the theory that the redheaded woman was her mother. Definitely a relative of some kind, but she seemed pretty young, so maybe a cousin or an aunt?**

 **I think it's possible that Penny will be rebuilt at some point. However, if that happens, I** _ **desperately**_ **hope that her original data is backed up somewhere and can be installed into her new body. Ruby would be absolutely** _ **crushed**_ **if someone who looks and acts like her friend Penny doesn't remember her.**

 **I didn't originally intend to have any White Coal in this fic… then I came across it in another fic and it was so well-written and believable I fell in love with it. So, yeah. Add another unorthodox ship to my list.**

 **This chapter wraps up both Team SAIJ's first year at Beacon and the first arc of this story. The second story arc is already in the works and I do not plan to take a hiatus before continuing (been there, done that), so stay tuned! Special shout-out to merendinoemiliano who has been reading since I first posted this fic and** _ **always**_ **leaves a review. You rock!**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	16. New Year, New Challenges

**And here we have it, the kickoff for the second story arc!**

 **I don't own RWBY. I'm just playing around with the characters.**

 **New Year, New Challenges**

 _You know, sometimes it's nice to slow down a bit,_ Aurum reflected. Classes would start back up in just a few days, and until then, she planned to do some hard-core relaxation. Jade had passed her driving test and was spending the break playing video games and working on her art, but if Skye's constant strategizing was any indication, she had no idea what the word _vacation_ meant. Aurum had pointed out that the tournament wasn't for another eight months and would it _kill_ Skye to leave it at least until the beginning of the school year? Indie was spending the break with her family on Patch; she wasn't scheduled to return to Beacon until tomorrow. A number of new students had already arrived; this year's incoming class would likely be twice as large as the current second-year class.

Aurum had been spending the last few weeks relaxing mostly by herself.

At this moment, _relaxing_ meant lounging in the pool. For the last couple hours, she'd been alternating between swimming laps and just floating around lazily. _I wonder if there's spaghetti in the cafeteria today… if I get out now, I can squeeze in a workout before dinner._ Noting how prune-y her fingers had gotten, she decided, _Yeah, that's probably enough pool time for one day._

It had been way too long since she'd gotten to do this. Hauling herself up onto the side of the pool and letting her legs dangle into the water, she began wringing out her braid, then retrieved her towel from the chair where she'd left it and started drying herself off.

"I thought cats hated water."

Aurum glanced over at the doorway to see Zelty standing there, frowning at her in confusion. He was wearing workout gear instead of his combat outfit; clearly he'd stopped on his way back from the gym. Glaring at him, she replied, "That is a stereotype and I do _not_ appreciate it. _For your information_ , I was the captain of the swim team at Signal." With that, she stalked off to the locker room to change. _I thought he was better than that…_

Hung up on the racist remark as she stalked through the halls, Aurum didn't notice Professor Scarlatina until she was too close to avoid a collision. If the older Faunus woman hadn't been so nimble, they would have ended up in a heap on the ground. As it was, she made a very undignified yelp and jumped backwards. The noise was enough to startle Aurum out of her preoccupation.

"Oh! I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't see you."

"So I gathered," the teacher replied dryly. "Tell me, what would have happened if it had been a Grimm and not me? You need to pay more attention to your surroundings, or you're going to end up very, very dead."

Aurum scowled; first a racist comment and now a lecture? Even if the professor _did_ have a point.

When she didn't respond, the teacher took another look at her. "Something wrong? You don't have to tell me what it is, but… maybe a sparring session would help?"

"Umm…" Aurum tried to think of a way to refuse, then sighed and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Thanks anyway."

Professor Scarlatina nodded. "All right. If you change your mind, I'll be in the gym."

"Okay." Aurum went on her way, still upset but this time paying attention to where she was going. Scanning her scroll to unlock the dorm room door, she found herself walking in on Skye and Jade engaged in a heated debate about their various team attacks and how best to utilize each one of them during the tournament. She purposely let the door slam shut behind her, startling them out of their discussion.

"Uh, what was that for?" Skye demanded.

Aurum glared at her team leader. " _Your boyfriend_ just made a really stereotypical comment about Faunus. I don't want to hurt him, but I will if I have to."

xxxxx

Skye strode through the hallways with a purpose. The few people she passed took one look at her and wisely decided to move out of her way. Nobody had answered AZSR's door when she'd banged on it, so now she was on a mission to hunt them down. She highly doubted that Zelty had _meant_ to say something offensive; he was way too nice to deliberately cause trouble. However, it really didn't matter what he had said to Aurum; if it had been construed as racist, then he needed to apologize or she'd dump him in a hot second, simple as that.

She finally found him sitting with his team in the cafeteria. The others were all laughing and joking around, but the blond himself looked uncomfortable. Skye slapped her hand down on a nearby table to get his attention. Saphed, who was sitting closest to her, jumped nearly a foot in the air and dropped his pizza onto his plate before spinning around. "What the hell, Schnee?"

Skye, however, ignored him and focused on the cringing blond. Narrowing her eyes at him, she pointed toward the door. "Outside, now."

The look in her eyes convinced him (good, because she'd been prepared to drag him out to the courtyard by his ear) and he quickly vacated his seat, nearly overturning it in the process. He meekly followed her outside. Once there, Skye propped her hands on her hips and glared daggers at him. "I don't know what it was you said to Aurum earlier, but you need to go apologize to her _now_."

Zelty slid down the wall at his back until he was sitting on the ground and began babbling, "I didn't mean… I didn't realize it would be rude…only then she stomped off before I could apologize…" Skye's sword found its way into his face. He shut up.

"What. Did. You. Say. To. Her."

The blond opened his mouth, but all that came out was a high-pitched squeaking sound. He tried again. "I said… about cats not liking water… and… I messed up, didn't I." There was an expression of obvious regret on his face.

Skye carefully sheathed her sword, regarding the boy she'd been officially dating for four months now. Finally, she replied, "I meant it about apologizing. We're going up to my team's dorm right now and you're going to do just that."

Zelty looked up from his spot on the floor. "What, right now?" Skye nodded her head once. "Umm… I wanted to give her some time to cool off before I tried to talk to her? I'm probably the last person she wants to see right now."

"Doesn't matter," Skye replied in a clipped tone. "You still need to apologize."

"And what if one of your other teammates answers the door?"

"They won't," Skye answered. "Jade is down at the gym, and Indie isn't back yet. Now quit stalling."

Apparently not finding any reason to object, Zelty nodded and pulled himself up off the ground. Skye tried very hard not to appreciate the graceful way he moved; she _was_ still annoyed with him, after all. Aurum opened the door when he knocked, and noticing the musician standing there, started glowering at him. Skye stuck her foot in the door frame before her Faunus teammate could slam it shut. "I know you don't wanna hear it, but he needs to say something to you."

Aurum narrowed her eyes. "This better be good, blondie."

When the boy didn't respond right away, Skye dug her elbow into his ribs (maybe with a _little_ more force than was strictly necessary) to prompt him to start speaking.

"Okay, um…" Zelty began. He had noticeably cringed at "blondie," and again at Skye's not-so-gentle nudge. "I… I'm _really really_ sorry I said what I did about cats. I don't know very much about Faunus and I said something I shouldn't've. Um…" He seemed to weigh his next words. "So, um. I'm really sorry I said that and I'm gonna leave now before I say anything else to screw this up."

"Wait."

Zelty lifted his gaze from the floor to meet her eyes, his expression wary.

Aurum was regarding him with a mix of annoyance and curiosity, like he was a science experiment that had gone wrong with interesting results. "I let it go the first time because you clearly didn't mean to burst my eardrums with your semblance; you apologized all over the place and you didn't do it again. I'll let it go one more time. You seem like a decent enough guy, but you don't get a third chance, got it?" He nodded, a little dumbfounded, and started to turn back around.

"Oh, and if you don't know much about Faunus? Take my advice: next time, just ask." Aurum had to hold back a snicker—she still had to act like she was mad at him, even though she was mostly over it now. She wasn't one to hold a grudge—but his face right now said more clearly than any words that _asking_ had never even occurred to him.

"Um. Okay. I… I'll do that."

xxxxx

The next week was a blur of guest speakers, workshops, and special activities. The incoming class consisted of seven teams' worth; Indie and Aurum recognized a number of faces from Signal and spent a good amount of time chatting with old friends. Attendance at the post-initiation team-forming ceremony was open to anyone who wanted, and in fact highly encouraged. The members of SAIJ and their classmates—now officially second-year students—all cheered as the new teams took their places.

Jade counted the number of newly formed teams. Seven, as expected. Which meant nobody had failed the initiation exam. Such a thing wasn't unheard of, but it _was_ uncommon. That meant that the first-year class was more than twice the size of the second-year class. Jade frowned. They didn't really socialize with anyone older except Team RUST, but the third-year class was also much more sizable than their own. A puzzle to chew on later.

Classes picked up the day after new teams were formed, and the four girls fell back into the routine as though they'd never left it. Class schedules had been shuffled (due to the size of the first-year class the faculty had ended up splitting them, with three teams in one section and four in the other) but the overall sameness was reassuring. Professor Trace was still bringing caged Grimm to class, Professor Waters still sighed whenever anyone caused an explosion, and Doctor Oobleck still talked comically fast and made ridiculous hand gestures that might even have been obscene—who could tell? He moved too fast for anyone to get a good look.

By chance, their combat class was still held in the very last class period of the day. Professor Scarlatina opened up the first class of the year with an announcement.

"As you are no doubt aware, the Fifty-second Vytal Festival will be held at the end of this year, hosted here in Vale. I'm certain that many of you wish to participate in the tournament. This is the most-watched event in Remnant, so you will have to make sure to put on a good show for the people! However, you must qualify before you will be permitted to enter the tournament. Second-years and above generally do not have any trouble with this, but I will be assessing you in class and in your training for the first semester. The qualifiers will be held near the end of the semester, before student representatives from the other kingdoms arrive. Entrance into the tournament is encouraged but not mandatory; there will be no consequences should your team choose not to enter. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

With that, she began to randomly select names from her scroll. "We will be having two-on-two matches today. From Team SAIJ, Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao Long; from Team CROM, Mister Okami and Miss Gale. To the front, please."

Jade and Aurum made their way to the arena while Cerulea and Kage approached from the other side. All four combatants took their stances, Kage grinning cockily the whole time.

"Wipe that smile off your face, Mister Okami; you haven't won yet." The professor said this while seemingly not even looking up from her scroll. Aurum slapped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from breaking into laughter, but she was pretty sure the rabbit Faunus could hear her muffled snort anyway and chose to ignore it.

Kage shot a look of annoyance at his team leader, who had also cracked a smile at Professor Scarlatina's remark. Cerulea only shrugged at him.

"All right… begin!"

xxxxx

Falling back into a routine was nice, but not having classes on Fridays was downright _awesome_ , Aurum decided. It was Thursday afternoon, and the team was currently scouring the mission boards, trying to find one worthy of their first official solo mission.

"Not a lot of demand for perimeter defense right now…" Skye mused. "CROM already took that. There'll definitely be more need once people start arriving for the festival. Uhh… I think search and rescue might take too long; we still have class on Monday. How about bounty hunting? I'll admit, I kinda want to take down a criminal after hearing Mom's stories."

"Yeah, let's do it!" Aurum cheered.

"I guess it could be fun," Indie decided.

All eyes turned to Jade, who shrugged. "Sure, why not. Majority rules, so sounds like we're taking a bounty mission no matter what I say. Although I'll admit, bounty hunting _is_ pretty fun."

"Okay," Skye declared as she entered _SAIJ_ in the pop-up bubble that had appeared as she tapped the mission. "It's in Vale, so it shouldn't take too long. We need to visit the police station to get the rest of the info on this guy, though."

Getting into Vale was easy; the airship was ten minutes from leaving when they got there. Finding the police station was also easy. Getting someone to pay them any attention, however, proved to be frustratingly difficult. The desk sergeant flat-out ignored them until he was finished typing up something, then proceeded to file it away in an agonizingly slow fashion. Skye finally lost her patience and smacked her hand against his desk to get his attention. "Hey! We're not here to spectate. You want us to catch a criminal for you or not?"

It still took him a while to acknowledge their existence, and when he did, it was with a dull, disinterested stare. "Who you goin' after?"

"Rio Marten," Jade answered, before Skye could say something sarcastic. She was better at keeping her face neutral than the heiress was.

The sergeant grunted as he pulled out a few pages with a handful of scan codes on it. "Marten, page three. Scan the bar and the file will be transferred to your scroll."

All four took turns scanning the document, and the sergeant took it back from them when they were done. He began rifling through it himself, a clear dismissal.

"Thanks for your stunning cooperation," Skye groused at him. He either didn't hear or chose to ignore the sarcasm. Given his earlier behavior, she wouldn't have been surprised if it had been the first option.

The late afternoon sunlight was startling after the semidarkness of the station. Indie began looking through the file on Marten. Jade was cocking her head, trying to decide which of her mom's… shadier contacts would be the most help in this situation.

"Well," Skye began, "he's a petty thief, hacker and forger. He got out of jail two months ago and he's already back on the radar. He's supposedly got a handful of hideouts, so if one gets busted, he has others to fall back on."

Aurum narrowed her eyes. "I _might_ have an idea."

As the others watched quizzically, she selected a contact from her scroll. It rang twice before it was answered. "What's up? I'm trying to do homework right now."

Aurum suppressed an eye-roll. "Suuure you are, Lian."

"I need more than just good combat scores if I want to get into Beacon early," Lian replied primly. "So unless you have a good reason for bugging me, I'm hanging up."

"What info do you have on a petty crook named Rio Marten?" Aurum asked.

"What makes you think I know anything?" Lian responded cagily.

"You're a hacker; you expect me to believe you don't keep tabs on the competition?" Aurum jabbed.

"Please, Marten barely counts as competition," Lian scoffed. "Gimme a minute." There was the ticking of a keyboard for a few moments, then, "Rio Marten, twenty-seven, of Vale. First arrest at age sixteen for distributing fake IDs, in and out of jail every few months for the next ten years. Record includes the occasional hack job, but mostly he does petty theft and forgery. Latest arrest ten months ago, released from jail two months ago. All his previous hideouts are listed as being near the docks. That help?"

"Sure does. Thanks, pipsqueak," Aurum teased. "Now you can go back to your homework."

Before Lian could reply, a voice came from the other side of the call. "Hey, where's the—" The rest of the sentence was lost. The voice wasn't familiar to any of them.

"Who was that? You got a friend over?" Indie asked, curious.

"What? No, that was Citrine, you met her in Summerton. We're her host family while she attends Flare," Lian replied. "If everything goes according to plan, she'll be starting at Beacon the same year as me. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna take you up on that getting-back-to-my-homework suggestion."

A click sounded, indicating that the girl hadn't waited to end the call. Aurum shrugged and put the scroll back in her pocket, with a little smile on her face as they began walking. "'Host family?' Twenty Lien says they adopt her by the end of the year."

"Make it forty," Jade replied immediately, grinning. "No way it'll take longer than six months."

"Deal."

They shook on it.

Skye rolled her eyes, unseen by her teammates. "Can we please move along? I don't want to spend any more time in the sketchy part of Vale than we have to."

The decision was made to find a cheap (but not scummy) motel for the evening and start out the search in earnest in the morning. Skye ended up footing the bill, not that she _really_ minded. Having a lot of money did come in handy for situations like this.

 **The rest of the mission will be featured next chapter and let me tell you, I am having a** _ **lot**_ **of fun writing it. *cackles***

 **Also, just wanted to clarify that since RWBY is an American series, I am going with the assumption that Lien is equivalent to the US dollar. I doubt that's actually the case, but that's the basis for all my monetary amounts.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	17. Missions and Matchups

**This chapter is later than I intended due to stuff happening in real life. Mostly the fact that I spent the last few days without access to wi-fi. However, I'm particularly proud of how it turned out. Hope you all enjoy!**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

 **Missions and Matchups**

The team huddled awkwardly behind a large crate outside Warehouse Thirty-eight, like they'd been doing for the past hour or so. A young street rat had accepted Jade's offer of ten Lien to tell them where Marten's hideout was, and now they were staking it out, waiting for him to make an appearance—provided, of course, that the kid had been telling the truth. They'd alternated hiding behind this crate with patrolling the area in pairs, and they'd spent nearly all day at it. The sky was starting to get dark. Luckily, Huntsmen and Huntresses were a common sight around the docks, so they hadn't attracted much attention. Skye was currently passing the time by reading their target's police profile, _again_.

The mug shot from his most recent arrest showed a man in his twenties with short, navy blue hair and hazel eyes who was scowling at the camera. He was of average height, fairly skinny, and lightly tanned. The only thing not boringly nondescript about his appearance were the two scars on his left cheek. She guessed he'd be wearing unobtrusive clothing, too, so as not to draw attention to himself.

A rustle from the far end of the crate drew her notice. "Shh!" she hissed down the line.

"But I think that's him!" Aurum hissed back, pointing.

Skye, Jade and Indie all squinted at the figure who had appeared in the glow of the streetlight. He was too far away for them to get a good look, but Aurum had spotted him coming from a distance and had her scroll ready. She managed to snap a few photos before he vanished inside. The windows lit up with a dim glow from within a minute later.

"Well, that's it then. Let's go get him!" Aurum declared.

"No, wait!" Indie managed to grab the back of Aurum's shirt before the excitable Faunus could burst out from their cover.

Skye nodded, agreeing with Indie. "First we need to make _sure_ it's him. Jade, you're up; you're tall enough to see in the windows and your semblance means he won't see you."

"On it." The green-haired girl extricated herself from her teammates and faded from view before their eyes. Jade's selective invisibility meant that she could easily make herself unseen to anyone she chose while allowing others to view her clearly. It came in handy for things like this, and for the pranks she liked to pull, but unfortunately was next to useless against Grimm.

The others watched anxiously as she made her way to the window and peeked inside. The man they'd seen before was standing at a table, looking frustrated. He was wearing a black beanie hat, dark jeans, and a gray hoodie, along with a pair of work boots. Even though his hair was covered, she could see enough of his face to be confident that, yes, this was their target.

The place was a mess; Jade spotted a pile of boxes stacked haphazardly next to the table where Marten was standing. Several were likely full of stolen Dust, given the Schnee snowflake emblem on them, but most of them were unmarked. What could be inside those?

She was so focused on the boxes that she didn't realize he was heading for the door until he was nearly there. In a panic, she desperately attempted to extend the coverage of her semblance to her teammates, who were still watching from their hiding place. She couldn't tell whether or not she'd succeeded before the door clanged open and Marten strode out. He didn't so much as glance at the crate before heading off down the street.

Jade didn't let herself breathe until he was well out of sight. Her semblance evaporated, and her team reappeared.

"Let's go after him!" Aurum suggested again.

Skye shook her head. "If we chase him down, he'll know we're onto him. He didn't take his pack with him, which means he's coming back. We can sneak inside and ambush him."

Aurum wound up to kick the door in. Jade lunged for her. "No, don't! If the door's broken, that might tip him off!"

"What do _you_ suggest we do, then?" Aurum demanded

Jade bit her lip, considering, then nodded decisively. "Skye, I need two of your hairpins."

The team leader handed them over, saying as she did so, "Do not tell me you're going to use those to pick the lock. That only works in—"

 _Click_.

Jade handed the hairpins back, a small smirk on her face. "You were saying?"

"Where'd you even learn how to do that?" Indie wanted to know.

"Ehhh…" Jade shrugged. "Mom's kick-in-the-door approach works for some things, but other times, subtlety is necessary." She locked the door behind them and took up a lookout position to watch for Marten's return.

Skye had pulled up one of the boxes with her family's emblem on it. Setting it down on the table and slicing it open with her sword, she nodded. "Dust crystals, and they're definitely stolen. But what's in the other boxes?"

Aurum was currently investigating one of the boxes that wasn't labeled. "We're about to find out." This one wasn't sealed; all she had to do was open the flaps. "Looks like car parts. What would he want with this?"

"You'd be surprised," Jade answered from her place by the door. "Car parts can go for a lot on the black market. At any rate, I think we've got enough evidence to take him in." She suddenly let out a yelp. "He's coming!"

Everyone froze, then began frantically searching for someplace to hide. "No, I got this!" Jade hissed. She quickly activated her semblance and spread it out to cover the others. She'd been practicing this trick a lot lately; it was easier than it used to be.

The click of a key in the lock had the team collectively holding their breath as Marten opened the door and then quickly shut it behind him. Jade waited until he was back in the center of the room before letting her semblance dissipate and announcing, "Rio Marten, you're under arrest. We're taking you in."

Marten whipped around from where he'd been standing at the table. "What the—? Mini Huntresses?! I don't have time for this!"

He pulled something from a box that they hadn't gotten to and pressed the center of it. The cube lit up, flashing ominously.

Indie stared at the thing, then yelled, "Bomb!"

"That's right!" Marten hissed, with an ugly sneer. "Have fun getting blown sky-high!" He turned and made a mad dash for the exit.

The door hadn't even slammed shut behind him when Indie shouted, "Aurum, Skye, go after him!" Even as she was issuing the order, she was fumbling with her quiver.

Maybe it was the authority in her voice, or maybe it was just the fact that she was pulling on a pair of goggles and arranging a variety of small tools in front of her, but neither one questioned her suddenly taking charge. Aurum burst into shadow and was out the door in a blink; Skye took a moment to cast a speed glyph and followed after her only a split second later.

Indie forced down the panic that was rising in her as she saw the timer. Four minutes, thirty-eight seconds before everything went ka-boom. She pulled the goggles over her eyes and grabbed a pair of wire cutters from the selection before her. _Can't rush this…_ Forcing herself to breathe deeply, she focused on the wires protruding from the device, trying to figure out which one she needed to cut in order to defuse it. Usually an explosive of this size wouldn't be of too much concern, but with all the boxes of Dust so close by, she couldn't take the chance. _The green wire's not attached to the timer, so it's not that one… the white one looks like it's to tie it to something else… that leaves yellow and red._ She took another moment to evaluate the two a bit more closely, then, holding her breath, snipped the red wire. The explosive device's ominous ticking halted, and _XX:XX_ appeared on the display.

She let out the breath she'd been holding and slumped back. _I did it… I deactivated a bomb._

An electronic chirp from behind her made her jump comically into the air. She'd forgotten that Jade was still in the warehouse with her, she'd been so focused on the bomb. Jade read the text from her scroll, then broke into a grin.

"They got him."

xxxxx

Jade kept one gun barrel pointed at the sullen prisoner the entire walk back to the police station. Aurum had slapped a piece of duct tape over his mouth so he couldn't yell or threaten them, and another strip to tie his hands behind his back. Indie had separated out the Dust from the bomb into various containers, rendering it useless. Skye found the whole thing a little worrying. There was nothing in Marten's records that indicated he was skilled in crafting explosives, which meant that either he'd picked up a new skill since his last arrest, or someone else was supplying him. Either way, there was clearly another player involved.

After they'd dumped him off at the station (Skye noted with some satisfaction that the lazy desk sergeant from yesterday was nowhere to be seen, and his replacement was much more personable), they made their way back to the Beacon shuttle stop, with a slight detour for some food. They'd barely made it when Indie felt her knees buckle and she collapsed into Jade. "Gah, I'm so tired…"

"It's barely nine!" Aurum teased her. "The night's just getting started!"

Indie wasn't having it. Glowering at the Faunus, she retorted, "Well, then next time _you_ can defuse the bomb."

"Wait, it's only _nine_?" Skye muttered; it felt much later than that to her. "Hey Indie, where'd you learn how to deactivate explosives like that, anyway?"

The hooded girl shrugged. "Mama Ilia knows a lot about explosives. She taught me as much as she could, but this was my first time doing it for real."

"That sounds useful," Jade mused. "Wish I could do that."

Indie only shrugged again, not having it. "You can pick locks. Tough."

The conversation petered out after that, and the shuttle showed up only a few minutes later. Skye was still mulling over what Marten had been doing with that bomb, but her thoughts were growing fuzzy. It wasn't long before Jade was tugging at her arm, letting them know they'd arrived back at Beacon. All of them more or less fell into their beds and were asleep in minutes.

xxxxx

The story of Marten's arrest went over well with the other teams. On Monday, Aurum recounted her (slightly exaggerated) version to Team CROM, while Cerulea scoffed and Rhoda listened intently. Kage was grumbling that their perimeter defense mission had been nothing but target practice the entire time and why couldn't _they_ have an exciting story to tell? Esme was listening, but she seemed distracted; she kept doodling in her notebook.

Classwork remained roughly the same as it had been last year, but there were about half as many homework assignments given. What few assignments there were tended to be simple things, not the type to take up entire weekends. Jade's writing skills had improved somewhat; she was getting grades in the high seventies and low eighties now, rather than the borderline passing grades she'd gotten for most of last year. She was also getting better at dealing with heights. Indie's close combat skills were also significantly better than last year, but she would always be a sniper first and foremost.

As the tournament drew closer, the anticipation in the air increased daily. Wild speculation about who the winner might be was rampant in the hallways, and even the teachers seemed excited.

"Who's up next?"

Esme had just won her match against Saphed, and now Professor Scarlatina was looking for another pair to spar against each other. Aurum raised her hand. The teacher glanced at her and nodded in acknowledgment. "Very well, Miss Belladonna. And your opponent…"

"Actually…" Aurum began, locking her eyes on the professor, "I want to fight you."

A slow smile spread over the professor's face as she looked back and forth between the students' faces. "I see. Would anyone else like the opportunity to face me in an exhibition match?"

Every hand went up. Professor Scarlatina's expression went from surprised, to pleased, to thoughtful. "All right. I'm happy to do this if you're all serious about it, but it will mean rearranging the next few class periods because I will not be able to accommodate you all at once." She cocked her head, considering, then went on, "Miss Belladonna, since you asked, I can manage to fit in a match with you at the end of this class."

Aurum felt her face lighting up. "Really, ma'am? Thank you!"

"Certainly." The professor selected Rue and Jade to face off against each other next. Rue emerged victorious, with the longer reach that NightShade afforded her. Skye and Kage were next, with Skye quickly claiming victory. There were still fifteen minutes left in the class period when the Faunus woman called a halt to the official lesson.

"Clearly you are all excited to watch me fighting, so I'll end it here for the day. Miss Belladonna, to the front, please."

Aurum was barely able to keep from using her semblance to get down to the arena, she was so pumped for this. Once there, she waited impatiently, fidgeting as Professor Scarlatina set up the aura meter for their match. After what felt like an _hour_ but was in reality probably only about ninety seconds, the teacher took her place across from the student. Aurum had noticed before that the professor always kept her camera on her, which seemed a little odd, but who was she to judge? She set Aurora Blaze in her hands, ready to fight an unarmed opponent.

The professor smiled at her. "Whenever you're ready."

Narrowing her eyes, Aurum hesitated. Professor Scarlatina was letting her have the first move? Well, okay then… She jumped into the air and unleashed a powerful slash at her opponent, but found the strike suddenly blocked by… NightShade? No, it wasn't actually Rue's naginata, but a hard-light copy of the weapon. Aurum fell back, wary now. The teacher allowed herself a small smile at her student's confusion, then began to go on the offensive, twirling the silvery outline and aiming a jab toward Aurum's stomach.

The cat girl ducked under the blade and found it beginning to evaporate, almost immediately replaced with Cerulea's khopesh—Silver Eclipse, Aurum thought it was called. Her opponent's stance shifted; now she was imitating Cerulea's solid, wide stance, and aimed a shot at Aurum, who felt it hit her in the arm. Her aura decreased by a few points—the first strike of the match to connect.

As the khopesh disintegrated, Aurum found herself blocking various kicks and punches that would have done a _lot_ of damage if she let them connect, letting herself fall into the rhythm of the fight. This was _fun_ ; she'd never imagined that the soft-spoken professor would have such an interesting fighting style.

Of course, that was when she decided to switch things up. A new weapon materialized—a very _familiar_ one. Aurum heard Indie yelp in surprise as the teacher drew back the ghostly copy of Crescent Ranger and aimed a shot at Aurum's left shoulder. That was a mistake: Aurum had sparred against Indie enough times to be intimately familiar with her fighting style, and she immediately launched into her usual defensive maneuver. _You won't win like that…_ To her surprise, Professor Scarlatina was able to block more of the blows than Indie generally could. Aurum still managed to get in a few good hits, but apparently this odd mimicry—was it her semblance? It _must_ be—was only _based_ off of a particular fighting style, not completely _defined_ by it.

As the bow vanished from existence, a long spear shimmered into being in its place, not something Aurum recognized. _Not just student weapons, then_. She responded by planting the two halves of Aurora Blaze together, creating its shield form, and raised it to block the series of thrusts and slashes that were now raining down on her.

The spear disappeared, to be replaced with a gigantic sword that Aurum doubted she'd be able to _lift_ , let alone wield. Hard light was weightless, though—at least to the user. It would _hurt_ to get hit by that thing. She didn't try to parry it, instead activating her semblance and beginning to spin around, keeping her eye on the blade. She felt the shockwave as the weapon slammed into the ground, shattering a number of the floor tiles completely and dinging several others.

The next choice in the professor's apparent arsenal was a fairly basic longsword, which Aurum could deal with much more easily. She ducked in close, and as the teacher swung at her, she raised her left fan to block while aiming a slash at her opponent with her right. It was a solid strike, but then the sword disappeared and Professor Scarlatina went back to hand-to-hand for a minute, until stepping back and summoning a pair of scimitars. _Aubergine._ The pirate girl was another of her frequent sparring partners, and Aurum felt fairly confident that she could deal some damage here.

Her instincts were right: she managed to knock the professor's aura into the yellow before the older Faunus let the twin swords dissolve and instead summoned a new weapon. Aurum barely had time to goggle at the glowing outline of Magnhild before it was hurtling toward her face. She'd fought against Nora enough times to know that the best way to avoid damage from a _giant freaking warhammer_ was to not be there when it struck; she managed to use her semblance to escape at the last second. The weapon bounced off the arena's shields and rebounded into the ground, adding to the damage from earlier.

"Enough."

"Huh?" Aurum glanced back up to see that the hammer had disintegrated like the others, but this time Professor Scarlatina was standing in a relaxed, non-combat stance.

"That was well-fought, Miss Belladonna. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament if you keep that up. Now, I think I will wrap up class a few minutes early today; the arena will need to be repaired before any more matches can take place. You are free to go."

Aurum was slightly disappointed about not getting to finish the fight, but she wasn't going to argue with the teacher, especially not after seeing just how strong the older Faunus was. On a whim, she quickly dipped into a bow, intended as a gesture of respect for a worthy opponent. The professor's face broke into a huge grin, and she mirrored the action before picking up her scroll and dismissing the aura readouts.

It seemed like not a single student who had been in the classroom could keep from gossiping in amazement at Professor Scarlatina's fighting skill. Rue made a comment about not realizing that the rabbit Faunus was so talented, to which Cerulea dryly pointed out that she would hardly be able to teach combat if she couldn't fight. Rue conceded the point, but Aurum broke in.

"I think it's her semblance. She can imitate people's fighting styles, and by combining that with copies of their weapons, it's pretty obvious why she's our combat teacher."

Skye let a grin escape. "That is a _genius_ way to fight. I can tell you this, I'm _definitely_ looking forward to going up against her myself."

A chorus of "Me too!", "Same", and "I can't wait!" filled the hallway along with a nearly palpable excitement. Aurum hung back, with a look of satisfaction on her face. This whole thing had evolved from her impulsiveness in challenging the teacher, but the results… well, this was going to be fun.

 **I couldn't have Velvet be the combat teacher and** _ **not**_ **feature her in a fight. It was so much fun writing her match against Aurum! In case you were wondering, the giant sword that tore up the floor was Yatsuhashi's weapon of choice. She's got Coco's minigun and Fox's blades in her arsenal as well.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	18. New Arrivals

**Announcement: At this point, I'm just gonna go ahead and say that from now on, this fic will be updated regularly every two weeks. For now, that'll be on Mondays. I know that's less often than I've updated in the past, but I've found that it's very difficult to keep myself on a strict writing schedule when I don't have a specific deadline.**

 **RWBY is owned by the people at Rooster Teeth, not by me.**

 **New Arrivals**

The following Monday, Professor Scarlatina once again opened the class by making an announcement. "In the interest of time, I have decided to make some changes. For the next three weeks, I will be starting the class with a one-on-one match, myself against one of you. You will be selected in random order, and this will also be your qualifying match to enter the tournament. Miss Belladonna, you will have the chance to face me again if you like, or I can consider last Thursday's match your qualifier."

She looked at Aurum expectantly, but the cat girl shook her head. "I'd rather fight you again. It was so much fun!"

The teacher smiled slightly. "I suspected as much. Each match will last for five minutes; I will be setting an alarm on my scroll to keep track. Very well, the first match will be…" She flicked her scroll and a large roulette wheel with all the students' names on it was projected onto the wall. It began to spin, quickly at first and then more and more slowly, finally landing on a single name.

"Miss Gale. Please come to the front."

With a huge grin on her face, Cerulea made her way to the arena. She bowed like Aurum had done last class, but hers was less formal and very clearly communicated her excitement. As she hefted her weapon and readied her Dust supply and extra bullets, Professor Scarlatina set up the aura meter. Once that was finished, she turned to face her opponent and announced, "All right, begin!"

Cerulea swung her khopesh in a wide arc that ended up bouncing off a hard-light copy of Aurora Blaze. Aurum grinned at seeing that the professor had the tessen fans in her arsenal, but they proved ineffectual against Cerulea's next blow, a punch to the gut with her stone fist. The teacher skidded back a few feet and as the fans evaporated, replaced them with a large shield that Indie vaguely recognized as belonging to one of the fourth-year students.

The professor blocked Cerulea's next strike and then turned the shield slightly, revealing a set of hinges. As the weapon folded in half, she swung it, revealing that it was hollow, with a pair of blades neatly tucked away inside. She spun the device on her wrist, too quickly for Cerulea to follow, although the pigtailed Huntress was able to parry it at the last minute and aimed a kick at her opponent's midsection.

With another smile, the professor traded the shield for a sniper rifle and began shooting at the girl. Cerulea was unable to block every bullet, and her aura continued decreasing steadily, but when the teacher paused briefly to exchange the rifle for Zelty's Melodia, the girl shifted Silver Eclipse into its rifle form and made her move. The small sais daggers couldn't hope to stop the barrage of shots that came flying, and her own aura ticked steadily downward with each hit… until a loud "Ding!" came from the professor's scroll.

The two combatants straightened out of their stances and looked up at the aura readout. Cerulea's was in the yellow, and the professor's only a few slivers behind. "Very well fought, Miss Gale. I will evaluate your performance and let you know at the end of class."

Cerulea reached out to give her opponent a brief handshake, then took her seat. Professor Scarlatina began arranging something on her scroll, and asked the class, "One-on-one matches today. Any volunteers?"

Looking out at the sea of raised hands, she smiled at them. "Mister Achamba, you haven't entered a match in a while. Who would you like as your opponent?"

Saphed began glancing around the room as though trying to decide. His eyes landed on Skye; they had never faced off against each other before, and the excitement on his face confirmed his decision even before he announced, "I'd like to fight Skye if she's okay with it."

The professor aligned her scroll. "Miss Schnee, the option is up to you."

Skye had already begun her walk down to the arena. "Sure, I'd like to face off against someone new. Good experience."

The two took their places in the ring as their aura meters were projected above them. "Begin!"

Saphed took two shots in quick succession, which Skye dodged by leaping up onto a glyph and jumping from one to the next. She'd managed to hit him three times when she felt an odd tugging sensation, and before she had the time to think about what it could be, she'd fallen off her glyph and tumbled gracelessly to the floor.

It took much more effort than usual to haul herself to her feet. Her body felt much heavier than normal… she could barely lift her sword. Was this his semblance? The slight smirk on his face seemed to indicate that it was. Well, in that case… she narrowed her eyes and, with an absolutely _ridiculous_ amount of effort, summoned a gravity glyph underneath him. _Two can play at that game._

Saphed struggled to move while under the glyph's influence. The weight holding Skye to the floor evaporated (much more slowly than she would have liked) and she began forming platforms again, leaping between them and striking him in midair like before. His aura began to sputter. Landing back on the floor, she released the gravity glyph, spun Gladiola's Dust chamber, and began flinging sparkling whips of water at him. She felt another slight tug as he made one last attempt to use his semblance on her, but she wasn't having it. With one last flick of the chamber, she switched to ice Dust and swung, the droplets of water still clinging to him from her last attack immediately freezing solid. One more well-placed strike was all it took to knock his aura into the red.

Stepping back from the arena, she surveyed her handiwork. "That was fun. What exactly did you do to pin me to the floor like that?"

Grinning sheepishly, Saphed answered, "It's my semblance. Gravity manipulation." He shrugged one shoulder as he rubbed the back of his head.

Skye considered him. Wasn't he afraid she'd use her knowledge of his semblance against him in the tournament? In all reality, she knew it was unlikely that their teams would be matched up against each other before the singles (usually teams from the same school were kept from facing each other for the teams and doubles rounds) and she was pretty sure that AZSR would elect Aubergine to represent them in that case. Still, it displayed a certain amount of cockiness to reveal his semblance when he didn't have to. It was fairly subtle; she doubted she would have been able to tell what was happening if she hadn't been the one on the receiving end of it. _Oh well… that's his choice._

xxxxx

The students all made it through the qualifying fight against their professor, with varying degrees of difficulty. Rue was better at fighting from a distance; her NightShade was far less effective when Professor Scarlatina decided to fight her at close range. Zelty still wasn't the best in a fight, and since he refused to use his semblance to give himself the upper hand against the rabbit Faunus, his own match was a close thing. Indie spent most of her own qualifying match ducking and rolling to avoid strikes and using Dust arrows instead of regular ones to cause more damage. The teacher congratulated her on her improved use of terrain to win the match.

Only a couple weeks were left in the semester when Headmistress Goodwitch came to the cafeteria during breakfast to announce, "As you might know already, the student representatives from Shade Academy will be arriving this afternoon. After your classes are finished for the day, I encourage you to greet the students when they land; this is a festival to celebrate lasting peace and good relations between kingdoms, after all."

Aurum immediately announced to her teammates that there was nothing they could do to stop her from going. "I wanna get the scoop on who we might be up against as soon as possible." Jade rolled her eyes and lobbed a half a bagel at the Faunus. Aurum was by far the most competitive one of their team; the rest of them had really only decided to enter the tournament for fun.

Skye agreed, though her reason couldn't have been more different. "It's only polite to greet them."

Classes passed in a blur. Usually Aurum was the one to have trouble sitting still, but today half their class was fidgeting in their seats, impatiently awaiting the conclusion of their combat class. Aurum had brought a small notebook so she could write down her first impressions of the other teams. Indie and Jade continually teased her about it between classes.

As the bell rang, signaling the end of their last class, there was a mad rush of students heading for the airfield. The second-years were joined by half of the first-year class almost as soon as they left Professor Scarlatina's classroom, and the other half as they passed Doctor Oobleck's.

It seemed that the delegation was earlier than expected; by the time the students made it to the airfield, a half dozen airships had begun landing procedures, the Shade insignia clearly visible on their sides.

As the ships landed and students began to disembark, Indie found herself watching them with curiosity. It seemed that Aurum's competitiveness was somewhat contagious. That team looked like they'd be hard to beat; they were all looking around seriously, without even a hint of a smile to be seen. _Hard to believe they're from Vacuo._ That team was having trouble not gaping at everything their eyes landed on; apparently they'd never been out of the desert before. _Must be first-years._ Shade didn't have official uniforms like the other three academies; most of the students arriving were either in some array of jeans and t-shirts, or their combat outfits.

Indie had barely made note of that fact when a wildly waving hand nearly caught her in the face. Rhoda was jumping up and down, trying to get to the front. "Cole! Over here!"

A young man with black hair worn in dreadlocks looked over at her, then broke into a grin and waved back. "Ro! I'm so glad you made it down!"

Rhoda had managed to extricate herself from the throng of students and made her way over to the boy, a few others stopping along with him. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around him. "I've missed you so much! Beacon is so different from Shade, you'll love it here!"

The boy apparently named Cole ruffled her hair affectionately. "Missed you too, little sis."

Rhoda turned back to the remainder of her team, along with SAIJ and AZSR. "This is my brother Cole! He's a third-year and I can't wait for you all to see him fight!"

Cole had hazel eyes identical to Rhoda's and an even more liberal sprinkling of freckles on his tanned face. Based on Rhoda's excitement, Indie would have guessed them to be brother and sister even if she hadn't just introduced him as such.

One of Cole's apparent teammates had broken into a smile at the sight. "Aww, that's adorable. I'm Marigold Luck, by the way. Leader, Team Magenta." Nodding to Rhoda, she added, "Nice to see you again, kid."

Marigold bore a passing resemblance to Nora, between her short stature, shoulder-length orange hair, and slightly unsettling grin. However, that was where the resemblance ended; her eyes were blue, not green, and there was a white-tipped red fox tail curled around her waist. She was dressed a bit more formally than most of her classmates, in a blouse and skirt, and wasn't the least bit tan despite living in the desert.

Rhoda had turned to her brother's other teammates. "Garnet, Argentum, it's nice to see you here too. How was the trip?"

The other girl shrugged. "Pretty smooth. I mean, we did get here almost an hour ahead of schedule." Her hair was the color of red wine, and she wore sunglasses with lenses tinted the same shade. To the others, she added, "Garnet Paladin. Looking forward to kicking your butts in the tournament!"

Without missing a beat, Aurum replied, "I'm looking forward to seeing if you can back up that talk."

Garnet slowly pulled her sunglasses down to look at Aurum over the top of them, revealing bright teal eyes. She stared for a minute, then broke into a grin. "You got spunk, kid. I like it."

The older girl wore her hair in a braid, with spikes woven into it. She was wearing what Indie assumed was her combat outfit: a cropped halter top in the same dark red as her hair, blue jeans that were faded but unripped, and a pair of sturdy-looking black boots. There was a small silver charm on her left bootlace of a shield in front of a sword, with a crown positioned over the crossguard. The same emblem adorned the single black glove on her right hand, and she also wore a black vambrace on her left forearm. Her deep red lipstick stood out against her dark skin.

"Hey, we should head up to our dorm." This speaker was the final member of Cole's team, a dark-skinned young man who had to be at least six and a half feet tall. Rhoda had addressed him as Argentum, Indie recalled. His silvery gray hair was pulled into a short, messy ponytail, and he was wearing a _lot_ of jewelry: two silver hoops in his left ear, a large fang earring in his right, a silver chain around his neck, and silver rings on both middle fingers. There was a tattoo on his right bicep of a fern surrounded by flames. Despite his size and appearance, he wasn't too intimidating. His lavender eyes held an easygoing expression that matched his smile. He, like Cole, was dressed extremely informally in a t-shirt and jeans. "I'm Argentum Bracken, but I don't expect you to remember that."

Cole's team was the only one still standing at the airfield by this time. Most of the Beacon students had dispersed as well. The girls had apparently decided that Argentum's suggestion of finding their dorms was a good one; they'd begun heading toward the main campus, prompting the boys to start walking quickly to catch up with them.

"Mom won't be happy when she sees what you did to your hair," Rhoda remarked to Cole.

The boy shrugged one shoulder. "I'm twenty years old, Ro. What's she gonna do, ground me?"

Both siblings began bickering playfully with each other. Indie poked Aurum in the ribs and when her partner turned to look at her, whispered, "That's what you sound like when you argue with Aqua."

Aurum glanced at her pink-haired classmate before returning her attention to Indie and grinning. "No wonder Mom and Dad never take us seriously."

xxxxx

The exchange student dorm building was only in use during the tournament. It only ever saw action once every eight years, when Vale hosted the festival. Now, though, with the Shade students already in residence and Haven and Atlas soon to follow, the generally neglected building was crawling with activity.

More than just students were arriving for the festival. Their families were also turning out in force. With two weeks left in the semester, Indie was on her way back from a climb in her favorite tree when she bumped into a family—a woman, a man, and a girl of about thirteen or fourteen—who looked completely lost.

"Can I help you find something?"

The woman turned at the sound of her voice, her relief evident. "Please. We're looking for the dorms." Holding out her hand, she added, "I'm Viridian Montanya; my daughter is a second-year."

"Oh! You must be Esme's family," Indie answered. She quickly took the offered hand and shook it, noting as she did that the Mrs. Montanya had two thumbs on her hand. "She wasn't here to meet you?"

The young girl jumped up, her black cat tail twitching. "Nope! We're surprising her."

Indie smiled at her. "Well, I'm headed that way right now. You can come with me."

"Oh, thank you," Mr. Montanya answered. His dark curls couldn't quite hide the pair of ram's horns on his head, and he was the only one in casual clothes—his wife wore a business outfit, and the young girl's attire was clearly a school uniform, although Indie didn't recognize which institution it came from. They fell in behind her as she started toward the dorms again.

As they rounded a corner and started up the steps, Indie's curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to ask, "Did you all just get here from Mistral today?"

Mrs. Montanya shook her head, smiling. "No, we've been here for several days, setting up our new apartment and getting the lay of the land." Motioning to the teenager, she continued, "Onyx refused to change out of her new uniform after she tried it on."

"You… you're moving to Vale?" Indie hadn't considered that possibility, but it did make sense for them to want to be close to their daughter.

"Indeed we are; Ms. Schnee approved my transfer request almost immediately but it took several months to make the right arrangements." Mrs. Montanya paused in her explanation to sidestep a first-year, then went on, "I still haven't thanked her for that. It worked out perfectly, though; now we can watch our little girl in the tournament live instead of over the feeds!"

"Well, that was nice of her. I'm sure she'll be here for the tournament; you can thank her in person if you want to." Indie pointed at the next door down the hall. "That's CROM's room. Just knock."

Mrs. Montanya paused before doing so. "Why is Ms. Schnee coming to the tournament? I'm sure she's busy in Atlas."

"Her daughter Skye is a Beacon student, my team leader, actually," Indie answered. "There's no way she'll miss it."

"Oh yes, now that you mention it, I do recall hearing that Skye Schnee was attending Beacon." Mrs. Montanya thanked her again as she continued down to SAIJ's room. Indie was startled to find all of her teammates inside.

"Hey, I thought you'd already be down at the airfield."

"Noooope." Aurum popped the "p." She was dangling from her bunk, with her head hanging down over Skye who was doing her best to ignore the cat Faunus. "You missed the announcement. The Haven representatives were delayed by bad weather; they won't get here until late tonight, after curfew." She stretched herself out another couple of inches.

Skye shot her dangling teammate a dirty look. "You have five seconds to get out of my face or so help me—"

A knock at the door startled Aurum, causing her to lose her balance and go tumbling to the floor. Skye snickered. "Serves you right."

Aurum grumbled something highly unflattering about Skye's fighting ability as she brushed herself off, then went to answer the door. She immediately threw herself at the woman standing on the other side. "Nana! I didn't know you were coming!"

Kali Belladonna pulled her granddaughter into a tight hug, then held her at arms' length to inspect her. "How have you been, my little kitten?"

"Nana!" Aurum protested—too late. Indie and Jade had already doubled over in laughter at hearing their teammate referred to as a kitten. Skye was managing to keep a straight face—barely. Aurum flipped them off, which only prompted them to become louder, with Skye giving up and breaking out into full-on laughter.

"Now, let's not have any of that," Kali chided the younger Faunus.

Aurum rolled her eyes at the other teens and then turned her full attention back to her grandmother. "Are you here for the festival? Is Grandad here too? Where are you staying? Did you come all the way here from Menagerie for the tournament?"

"Slow down!" Kali protested. "One question at a time, sweetheart. May I sit down?"

 **I have several cameos from familiar faces planned for the next few chapters; Kali is only the first. Stay tuned!**

 **And some new characters! "Cole" is a play on "coal."** _ **Argentum**_ **is the Latin word for "silver" and his last name, Bracken, references a species of fern. Marigold and Garnet are pretty self-explanatory. And as for Mrs. Montanya's two thumbs on each hand? That's the trait of a koala.**

 **I've been looking over some of my more recent chapters and I've noticed how the POV switches back and forth between characters within a scene. I've decided I don't like doing that—it makes the scene feel choppier, at least to me—so I'm gonna try to revert to the third-person limited POV I was using in earlier chapters.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	19. Chance Encounters

**I made y'all a promise about regular updates, and I am sticking with it!**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

 **Chance Encounters**

Since the first-year class was more than twice the size of the second-year class, Professor Scarlatina enlisted the aid of several of the visiting teams for the midterm combat exam. Indie, Skye, and Jade all ended up in the arena, and the students they were matched with all put up good fights. Aurum cheered her teammates from the sidelines.

The Atlas representatives arrived that afternoon, at the very end of midterm exams. Team SAIJ was weaving through the sea of gray uniforms, gossiping about which of the students they passed looked like worthy opponents, and comparing them to the representatives from Haven and Shade as well as their own classmates, when a voice rang out over the chatter.

"Skye Schnee, is that any way to greet somebody?"

The heiress turned toward the sound of the voice, her eyes growing huge as she spotted the speaker. Breaking from her team, she rushed over, yelling, "Winter!" She stopped abruptly a few feet away and dipped into a formal curtsy. "It is my honor to welcome you to Beacon."

Her teammates, following closely behind, managed to avoid running into her, barely. They lined up next to her in a somewhat haphazard arrangement. Skye followed Winter's eyes as they traveled along the assembled row. Her expression remained neutral, but Skye recognized the slight twitch in her left eye as she viewed them. (Mom did the same thing.) She carefully shifted her gaze to the right without turning her head the slightest bit—and cringed. The others had attempted to copy her formal pose, with… mixed results.

Aurum had tried imitating Skye's curtsy, but her stance was _all_ wrong, and her hands were much too close together on her skirt; overall, it looked sloppy. Since Indie was wearing pants, attempting a curtsy would have been ridiculous, but the bow she was holding was oddly stiff and looked extremely awkward. Jade had actually managed a fair approximation of the Atlesian salute, but since Jade wasn't military or even Atlesian, the salute was entirely inappropriate.

Luckily, Winter seemed more amused than offended. There was a slight note of humor in her voice as she announced, "At ease," after looking them over. All four immediately relaxed. Skye tucked her hands behind her back.

"Permission to hug?"

"Granted." Winter's eyes sparkled as Skye threw her arms around her. The older Schnee carefully studied her niece's face before reciprocating the hug.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Winter. Is there something going on?" Skye stepped away from Winter to let her answer if she chose.

Winter smiled at the other members of SAIJ and inclined her head a fraction. "General Ironwood is too ill to travel much anymore. As deputy headmistress of Atlas Academy, the responsibility of escorting the students to Vale for the Vytal Festival fell to me."

Skye squinted, trying to remember how old the General was. He had to be getting close to eighty…

"But, I will say that being able to see my niece compete is an unexpected benefit of doing so."

Skye immediately turned her full attention back to Winter.

"I need to catch up with my students now, but we will have time to talk later."

With that parting statement, Winter headed off, following the Atlas students as they made their way toward the exchange student dorms. Skye watched her go, a little disappointed that she couldn't have her aunt all to herself yet.

xxxxx

During the break, training was kicked into high gear. Aurum loved watching the competition working out in the gym, hoping she could gain an edge in the tournament. She wasn't the only one who enjoyed it, either. With a week still to go before classes started up again, she was on her way to the gym to get in a workout of her own when she came across a girl standing in the doorway to one of the side rooms, snickering at something inside.

Curious, she stepped closer and took a look through the window. The other girl—whom she'd guess was older than her, a third- or fourth-year—was watching a boy hop around inside; on second glance, it was because his shoelaces had been tied together. He spared a moment to shoot a dirty look and a rude gesture at the girl, who only laughed louder and returned the rude hand motion.

Aurum couldn't help letting out a snicker herself. The sound drew the other student's attention. Grinning, she held out a fist for Aurum to pound, which she obligingly did as she checked out the apparent prankster.

The older girl wore the black-and-gray checked skirt that was part of the Haven Academy girls' uniform, but she'd paired the skirt with a violet halter top that was very low-cut in the back, and black detached sleeves. Aurum idly wondered if the Haven uniform policy was less strict than Beacon, or if this student had been given special permission to skip the green blazer and white polo to allow for the black raven wings currently folded against her back. The feathers had an iridescent violet sheen to them. She had a gold bracelet on her left wrist and a silver one on her right; both had a purple crystal set into the middle. Her chest-length hair was jet-black, with the same violet sheen as her feathers, and had several shiny gold and silver beads woven into it. They made a chinking sound as she moved.

She leaned toward Aurum and, with a conspiratorial wink of one peridot-colored eye, whispered, "He was asking for it." Sticking out her hand, she added, "I'm Pitch Sanders. Team Citrus, Haven."

Grinning at the prank, which was definitely more harmless than some that Jade had pulled over the years, Aurum shook her hand. "Aurum Belladonna. Team SAIJ, Beacon. Is he your teammate?"

"Nah, just a classmate. He's going around telling everyone he's gonna win the whole tournament when we all know there's no way he'll even get picked for the doubles." Pitch paused a minute, then added, "Also, he likes to sneak wind Dust into class and activate it so all the girls' skirts fly up."

Aurum wrinkled her nose. "Creep."

Pitch nodded in agreement. "I can't stand my uniform, to be honest. Skirts are just _annoying_ , and I still have to wear it even without the rest of the uniform. Oh well, in another two weeks I'll be done with the thing and I'll never have to wear a skirt again."

Conversing with Pitch was more fun than training, Aurum decided. _I can probably go back to the gym later…_ She turned and headed back toward the main campus, letting a giggle escape. "Not a fan of combat skirts, I take it?"

"Not in the slightest," Pitch replied, falling into step behind her.

Aurum couldn't help noticing that the raven Faunus was drop-dead gorgeous. She was tall and willowy, nearly as pale as Skye, and wore a thin layer of eyeshadow a few shades lighter than her eyes. On closer inspection, she also had two feathers—one lime green, one light turquoise—woven into her hair along with the beads.

It was interesting that Pitch's team had chosen to compete in the tournament. A lot of fourth-year students opted not to, since they had to finish up their requirements for graduation and there usually wasn't a whole lot of studying happening during the festival, or in the months leading up to it. Aurum was about to ask her about it when she caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.

"Excuse me a minute," she told Pitch, weaving her way through the students that were milling around the courtyard. Making her way over to the person, who was carrying a large stack of books, she quickly spun them around.

Lian let out an undignified yelp as the top half of her book stack slid to the floor. "Oh, _so_ not cool, Aurum." She sounded like an exasperated teenager. "It's hard enough trying to study around here _without_ people throwing my books everywhere."

Aurum sighed. "What are you doing here at Beacon, pipsqueak? Last time you snuck onto campus, you ended up grounded."

Lian's maturity evaporated as she stuck her tongue out. "Shows what you know. I'm here with permission this time. Mom said she was gonna text you."

"Huh?" Aurum realized she hadn't checked her scroll all day. Reaching for her pocket, she fished it out and glanced at the screen. Sure enough, there was a text from Nora asking SAIJ if they wouldn't mind watching Lian until tomorrow morning, and a reply from Skye saying that it was fine. "Okay, you win this time."

Lian smirked triumphantly as a chuckle from behind them revealed that Pitch had witnessed the whole exchange. "Oh my gods, you are just the _cutest_!" Lian blinked at her. Pitch and Aurum both bent down to retrieve the dropped books. Aurum took note of the titles she ended up with: _Grimm Species of Eastern Sanus, Dust Use in Huntsman Society_. Both basic titles that students were expected to have some familiarity with by the time they enrolled in a combat academy.

Pitch had grabbed _Ancient Heroes of Remnant_ and _Great War: The Ripple Effect_ along with two issues of _Weapon_ magazine. She handed them over, saying, "Well, thanks for having a good laugh with me. I'll see you around." She winked at them and headed for the classroom building. Aurum and Lian both stared at her retreating back in bewilderment.

After a moment, Aurum shook her head and began walking toward her dorm room, with Lian cheerfully skipping along beside her. "So tell me, pipsqueak: what brings you here today?"

Lian shrugged. "Mom and Dad are with Citrine at Family Services filing for adoption. They told me I'd be super bored if I went with them, and I wanted to get some training in, so they agreed I could come stay here if it was all right with you."

Aurum let out a groan. "Dammit! They couldn't have waited to do that for another six weeks? Now I owe Jade forty Lien." She grumbled a couple more swear words under her breath.

"If you didn't wanna lose money, you shouldn't have made a bet," Lian retorted with a prim look on her face.

Aurum had to admit the pipsqueak had a point, but _still_. She liked making bets, and it wasn't like she needed the money (her allowance was nothing compared to Skye's, but it was substantial). She decided to change the subject. "Did you hack your way into our room again?"

"Nope!" Lian responded cheerfully. "I mean, if I'd knocked and nobody answered I would've, but I stopped by the library first and I haven't gotten to the dorms yet."

Rolling her eyes, Aurum reached over and tapped the weapon magazine. "Does this mean you've finally decided on a weapon specialty?"

"Yep!" Lian bounced up and down on her toes. Aurum waited expectantly, but the preteen didn't elaborate.

"Are you gonna tell me what it is?"

"Nope!" Lian's bright expression didn't change. "It's a secret!"

"Of course it is." Aurum sighed and scanned her scroll on the door. Lian was a step ahead of her as they walked in to find Skye and Zelty poring over a book at Skye's desk, sitting _very_ close together. They were so absorbed in it that neither one noticed the new arrivals until Aurum loudly cleared her throat, then both looked up and, apparently realizing how close they were, both turned matching shades of red.

Lian snickered, then muttered, "Get a room." Both offending parties turned, if anything, even redder. Aurum let a snort escape her mouth and held out her hand; Lian low-fived it and proceeded to sprawl out on Skye's bunk before putting on her reading glasses and opening one of the books she'd been carrying.

Possibly in an attempt to salvage some last shred of dignity, Skye got to feet and hauled her boyfriend by his sleeve out of the room. Aurum and Lian barely managed to let the door slam shut before bursting into gales of laughter.

xxxxx

As the break drew to an end and classes began once again, Jade had decided to let Skye and Indie in on something she'd noticed. The initial discussion wasn't exactly smooth, but both admitted they'd made the same observations and agreed that they needed to do something about it. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to formulate a plan before Aurum reentered the room, caught them all whispering conspiratorially, and raised one eyebrow at them. "What are you scheming?"

Skye took the lead and announced, "This is an intervention."

Aurum stared at her blankly for a moment, then sighed. "Okay, I'll bite. Why are you intervention-ing me?"

"Because." Jade had cringed at the overdramatic way Skye had delivered the line, but ploughed ahead; they couldn't exactly call it off now. "It is _painfully_ obvious that you're crushing on Aubergine, but you've done nothing whatsoever to actually pursue it. We want to know why."

"I am not crushing on Aubergine," Aurum insisted.

"That's a lie."

Indie was staring determinedly at the Faunus. "Last year you were hanging out with Aubergine almost all the time you weren't spending with us. This year, you're avoiding her whenever possible and stumbling over your words when you do talk to her."

"So?" Aurum challenged.

" _So_ , I went to Signal with you, remember? That's exactly how you acted before you admitted to Cyanne that you liked her."

Aurum flinched. Skye rolled her eyes. "We're finally talking about the elephant in the room?" Aurum fixed her with a death glare.

"Look, Aurum, Aubergine is totally cute and really nice. You could definitely do a lot worse. But you're making yourself miserable and pushing her away in the process. Aubergine asked me last week if she'd done something to offend you; she thinks she hurt your feelings or something and that's why you're avoiding her." Jade paused. "You know, there's gonna be a school dance to celebrate the end of the tournament. You should ask her to go with you."

Aurum made a pathetic squeaking noise before finally managing to find words. "I… I can't. I don't want this to end like last time." She was looking at the floor as she mumbled the last part.

"I highly doubt it will end like last time," Indie replied. "Aubergine isn't Cyanne, and you're not the same person you were two years ago either. You need to get back out there; live a little!"

"Cyanne broke up with me for no reason!" Aurum protested. "Four months of dating, and then she just… boom, dumped me! I'm not going through that again!"

"Aurum, Cyanne broke up with you because her family was moving to Atlas and she didn't think keeping up a relationship from different continents was a good idea," Jade pointed out, not unreasonably. "You can't just mope for the rest of your life. Ask Aubergine to the dance; the worst she can do is say no."

The cat Faunus appeared to have been struck speechless by her teammates' pleading. Skye was the first to break the silence. "We just want what's best for you, you know? Aubergine is a great girl; even if she says no, she won't be mean about it."

"I…" Aurum still couldn't find the right words. Her team really was the best, no question.

"It doesn't have to be today," Indie added, "but the sooner you get this over with, the sooner you'll know for sure."

Skye frowned. "Actually, it _can't_ be today. AZSR is out on a mission for the weekend. Zelty told me they were doing a supply run to one of the villages on the other side of Forever Fall, so they probably won't be back until tomorrow at the earliest."

Aurum couldn't help letting a tiny sigh of relief escape her.

Jade pointed at her, the determination she was feeling evident on her face. "Don't think this is the last you'll hear of the subject. We expect you to actually follow through on this."

xxxxx

Despite her teammates' threats and increased teasing, Aurum could never find the right time to confront Aubergine about her feelings. It seemed like they were always either away on missions, or around other people. She started daring to hope that she could escape having to do anything about it at least until the end of the semester.

So it was more than a little nerve-wracking to have Skye call a "mandatory team meeting." Aurum was half expecting it to be another intervention, but it turned out to be strictly school-related.

"I think that this weekend should be our last mission for the year," Skye announced.

Jade shrugged. "I'm okay with that, but… why?"

"Because." Skye began listing things off on her fingers. "We've already met our mission quota for the year. Final exams are looming ever closer. I want us to have more training time to prepare for the tournament, and…" Her expression turned a little sheepish. "We need to go dress shopping for the dance at some point."

Aurum had _not_ been expecting that last point from her most professional teammate; she couldn't keep from letting a snicker escape her mouth from her vantage point on her bed.

"So, with that in mind…" Skye continued, "what do you think we should take for our mission?"

"Perimeter defense!" Aurum and Indie blurted in unison.

Skye raised her eyebrows at them. "Any particular reason for the enthusiasm?"

"There's a huge demand for perimeter defense right now," Indie pointed out. "With the Vytal Festival bringing in so many people from outside the kingdom, Grimm numbers have increased to almost double what they normally are. I'd be surprised if most of the teams _weren't_ taking perimeter defense missions this weekend."

"She's got a po-oint," Aurum singsonged from her bunk.

"Well, then I guess it's settled. Let's pick a mission location and head out!" Skye grabbed her mission pack and took up a spot next to the door, waiting for her teammates to do the same.

The mission boards were surprisingly easy to get to, considering that there were nearly three times as many students in residence at the moment. A number of professional Huntsmen had also flocked to Beacon, both to watch the tournament and because their skills would be in high demand to fight off the increased Grimm numbers, but most of them accepted their missions remotely. Skye narrowed the mission parameters to Perimeter Defense only, and several available missions popped up.

"This one in Sector Eight needs immediate attention," Jade interjected, pointing to the one she meant—unnecessary, in Aurum's opinion, since it was the only one that was flashing red.

"Well, if that's where the need is greatest, then there's no reason for us to look any further," Skye decided. She tapped the mission and entered _SAIJ_ where it asked for team name. "That's not too far from the school, either, but it's kind of out of the way. We should be able to get there before dark, but only if we leave _now_." She narrowed her eyes, calculating, as the team headed for the main entrance. "We can take the shuttle into Vale, then take the bus as far north as it goes, but then it'll be a bit of a walk to the guard post."

Skye's travel plan went smoothly, and the bus deposited the team two miles from their mission site. She and Aurum could have traveled the remaining distance easily, but that would have meant splitting up, and that just wasn't something a good team did. Even so, they made good time and arrived at the border wall just as the sun was sinking below the horizon.

This section of the border was one of the more easily accessed points. It consisted of a large section of wall spanning a small valley and was frequently under attack by Grimm, so Aurum wasn't surprised when a figure greeted them on arrival. "Hey! Are you the team stationed here for the weekend?"

"Yeah, we're SAIJ! Nice to meet you!" Aurum called back. "We're here to help kill things!"

The figure stepped away from the shadows at the base of the tower, letting them get a good look at her: a young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair that had vivid orange and red streaks, dressed Anima-style in a short robe. The royal blue garment had only a single wide sleeve on her right arm; the strap of her navy bra was visible on her left shoulder. The cuff of her sleeve and the sash around her waist were both a shade of burnt orange that complemented the blue nicely, and her pants were navy leggings paired with short boots of the same color. A brooch in the shape of a shooting star was fastened to her right shoulder, and a tattoo of a small fairy with dragonfly wings adorned her left bicep. A few freckles were visible on her face.

Her blue-gray eyes evaluated them as they approached. "Good to have you here. I'm Chiara Stelle; the rest of my team's stationed up top. Hope you all can pull your weight."

 **Okay,** _ **wow**_ **was that intervention scene hard to write. It feels a tad cliché, but I hope I did it justice.**

 **As for the new characters introduced here: "Chiara" is an Italian name meaning "brightness," "light," or "clear." Her last name refers to stars. "Pitch" is a reference to the phrase "pitch black."**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	20. A New Mission

**This chapter marks an important milestone, at least for me. I am one third of the way through this fic, and it's by far the longest fic I've ever attempted. I'm already planning out details for the third story arc. Also, I've started writing up the tournament and oh my** _ **gods**_ **am I having fun with it. *cackles maniacally***

 **I don't own RWBY.**

 **A New Mission**

Chiara immediately showed the newcomers to the top of the wall. The "tower" was actually two towers, one on either end of the wall, but only one of them was set up with amenities. "Our bunks are on the floor directly beneath the lookout wall. There's a shower here too, but the water's really cold, so just a head's up there."

The silhouette of another person caught Jade's eye as Chiara continued her tour. She'd barely registered it when Aurum greeted them. "Hey! I didn't realize I'd be seeing you here!"

Chiara glanced back and forth between her teammate and the newcomer. "You've met already?"

"Sure have." Aurum turned back to her teammates. "This is Pitch Sanders; we ran into each other over the break."

"Yeah, you had that cute little tagalong with you," Pitch replied, grinning.

"Tagalong?" Skye questioned, raising one delicate eyebrow.

Aurum shrugged. "She means Lian."

Chiara turned and yelled into a shadowy corner. "Hey Doug, quit your skulking and come say hi to our reinforcements."

A young man emerged from the shadows. He had longish forest green hair fading to gray at the tips, rose-pink eyes, and a large sniper rifle slung across his back. The short-sleeved camo jacket he wore was unzipped, revealing a simple green t-shirt, and his tan cargo pants matched his complexion. There was a simplified compass emblem emblazoned on the back of his jacket. His shoes were sneakers that looked sturdy but at the same time flexible enough that he could run and climb easily. Jade made a mental note to ask where he'd bought them.

A large key pendant with what looked like an eye in the middle hung around his neck, and the rifle strap that went across his chest diagonally doubled as a bandolier; several rounds of ammo and various Dust cartridges were tucked into it. He also had a pair of goggles resting on his forehead.

"I'm Douglas Rosa," he introduced himself. "Call me Doug, though; everyone does."

Indie was staring at his rifle with a look of appreciation. "I'm Indigo, but call me Indie. Is that a high-caliber sniper rifle with Dust capabilities and silencer mode?"

Doug stared at her for a moment, then, sounding somewhat stunned, answered, "Sure is. Built it myself. It's just a rifle though, no melee component."

"Hey!" Pitch scolded her teammate. "Don't give away our secrets. I don't care if they're only second-years; we're not gonna go easy on 'em!"

A burst of laughter from the rampart alerted everyone's attention to the figure that was seated there. "Come on, Pitch, you really think a team of second-years stands a chance against fourth-years like us?"

"Hey!" Aurum wore an offended expression. "Don't count us out so easily just 'cause we're younger than you. We plan on wiping the floor with our competition."

The girl grinned. "While I admire the confidence, statistically speaking, you have… blah blah, terrain advantage… blah… thirty-seven percent chance… upperclassmen." That was what it sounded like to Jade, anyway.

Aurum stared openmouthed. Chiara rolled her eyes and gave the other girl a light cuff on the shoulder. "Spare us the digits, nerd." To SAIJ, she added, "Tanner Topaz here is our resident math genius, which means we have to hear about this _statistics_ nonsense all the time." Despite her dismissive tone, she had a playful smile on her face as she admonished her teammate.

Tanner's grin didn't diminish in the slightest at her leader's chiding. She had light brown curls pulled into a high ponytail, amber eyes, and a handful of freckles on her cheeks. Her attire consisted of a long-sleeved shirt in a soft shade of pink with flared cuffs, a brown leather corset vest laced up over the shirt, and wide-legged brown pants. Two belts were fixed around her waist in the same style as Indie's, with various Dust cartridges loaded into them. A charm in the shape of a stylized triangle-cut gemstone was affixed to one of them. Her pink sneakers looked like they'd seen better days. She didn't appear to be armed, but neither did Pitch or Chiara; Aurum assumed their weapons must be close at hand but out of sight.

"So is there anything special we should know about this post or mission?" Jade inquired of Chiara. "Aside from the obvious, I mean." She'd been out in the field much more than her teammates had, growing up; Mom _always_ had a list of basic questions she asked at the beginning of a mission.

The older student narrowed her eyes as she considered the question. "With one exception, so far it's been pretty straightforward. Grimm approach, we shoot 'em, rinse and repeat. We can't get too comfortable though; this point is particularly vulnerable to Grimm attacks, and with all the people in Vale for the tournament, the nasties are getting more and more restless. My rule is that at least one person with night vision needs to stay on watch when it's dark." She glanced at Aurum, silently assessing the cat Faunus. "On my team, that's everyone but me. Can I add you to that list while you're here?"

"Uhh… sure. I guess." Aurum was slightly taken aback by Chiara's directness. Pitch's Faunus trait was obvious, but as for the others… She zeroed in on Doug and Tanner. "You're Faunus?"

Doug quickly shook his head. "Not me." He tapped his goggles. "Night vision goggles. Not as good as Faunus vision, but better than nothing."

Tanner flexed her fingers, letting claws spring into view. "They don't come in handy for much, but yeah. Panther Faunus."

Jade had narrowed her eyes at Chiara's mention of an "exception" to the norm and quickly asked a follow-up question. "So what happened that _wasn't_ straightforward?" She wanted to be as well-informed as possible

Doug was the one to answer, "On our second day here, we had a guy get chased out of the forest with a couple Ursai on his tail. We held 'em off long enough for him to get up here; turned out he was from Treetop village and got separated from the rest of his hunting party. I was actually kinda impressed he managed to make it. Treetop's a good distance from the main kingdom, on the other side of Forever Fall; he must've been out there for at least a few days, with nothing but an ordinary rifle meant for regular animals. Nice craftsmanship and all, but definitely not meant for Grimm."

"Oooh, was his gun one of the RD-4 models?" Indie asked, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of discussing weaponry. "Because that one might not be much use against Grimm, but it has such a classic design that a bunch of Huntsmen incorporated aspects of it into their own weapons when designing them."

Doug's eyes lit up as well, matching Indie's excitement. "No, it was the Talon model. Older, but still a nice shot, if all you're trying to shoot is deer."

Within seconds the two had devolved into geeking out about weapons, oblivious to the fact that their teammates were staring at them in mingled disbelief and affection.

"Awww, that's adorable," Pitch commented, with a crooked grin on her face.

"How long have you been stationed here?" Jade continued, attempting to get her line of questioning back on track.

"Nine days," Tanner answered. "There's another team coming in to replace us on Tuesday. You're only staying 'til Sunday, right? Classes and all that."

Skye raised one eyebrow. "We are leaving then, but missions don't always fit into the time between classes. Things aren't always predictable where the Grimm are involved, especially during the Vytal Festival."

"The tiny heiress isn't wrong," Pitch pointed out. "The flip side being that since the centerpiece of the festival is the tournament, there's a lot more fighters around to deal with the increased Grimm activity. Also a lot of pros take the time away from their regular missions, both to watch the tournament and to take jobs exactly like this one. It pretty much breaks even."

"I'm sorry, 'tiny heiress'?" Skye objected.

Pitch only grinned unapologetically. Skye looked like she was about to argue the point further, but a nudge from Jade convinced her to let it go.

xxxxx

SAIJ soon learned something that CTRS had figured out a day into being posted here: it was boring as hell most of the time. Because of the height advantage that came with the wall, most Grimm fell long before they even came close to breaching the wall. As Tanner not-so-helpfully pointed out, "Our odds increased by at least fifty-seven percent just by having another team here. The smart Grimm are gonna stay away with eight of us on guard, and the stupid ones—"

She was cut off by Pitch yelling from her vantage point. "We've got baddies incoming!"

"Way to prove my point," Tanner muttered as everyone made a grab for their weapons. Doug slung his gun to the front and took aim, while Chiara and Pitch retrieved a staff and a pair of swords respectively. Tanner flicked a dagger into view from her sleeve and produced a pistol from the back of her belt. SAIJ was keeping their own weapons close by as well; each one was in its owner's hand in the blink of an eye.

Aurum had to remind herself not to shoot yet. Aurora Blaze was much more effective at close range; no sense wasting her bullets when there were at least three ranged fighters alongside her.

A sizeable pack of Beowolves was approaching the wall. Aurum counted at least a dozen, with more emerging from the forest as she watched. Skye flicked the chamber on her sword and prepared to cast her glyphs. Indie lined up a shot and waited. Doug stared down the scope of his rifle. By unspoken agreement they waited for Chiara's order, Skye having ceded authority to the older, more experienced team leader.

"Fire when ready!" Chiara called out. A hail of bullets from Doug, Tanner, and Jade filled the air as Indie let her arrows fly. Skye couldn't take out the creatures herself from this distance, but there were other ways she could help. Ice erupted around three of the Beowolves, making it easy for the others to pick them off. Aurum cursed internally as her grip tightened on her weapons; she was _zero_ help in a fight like this.

"Hey." Aurum had been so focused on the fight that she hadn't noticed Pitch behind her. The raven Faunus raised a knowing eyebrow. "Melee fighter?"

Pitch was dressed differently than she had been at their original meeting. She'd traded her uniform skirt and shoes for a pair of purple leggings and knee-high black boots with gold trim. Her top remained the same, as did the unusual accoutrements in her hair. Aurum sighed in response to her question. "Mostly, yeah." She balled her fists in frustration. "I'm totally useless in a fight like this. I hate it!"

"You're not useless."

Aurum raised her eyebrows. "How do you know? We barely know each other."

"Because you wouldn't have lasted this long if you were," Pitch replied immediately. "You haven't washed out or gotten yourself killed; that means a lot in this life. Not everybody has the same advantages in a fight. That's why we form teams: so we can watch each other's backs."

Aurum took a moment before replying to check out the raven Faunus's weapons. Pitch's swords were beautifully crafted, one short and one long, shiny silver blades and gold hilts with hourglass designs worked into them. No, on second glance, those were _actual_ hourglasses with _real sand_ inside. Aurum wondered if that was purely for aesthetic purposes. It was certainly an unusual style choice, but she couldn't think of any practical function they could serve. It was also obvious that they were _only_ swords, not guns. After a moment, she smiled gratefully. "Thanks. It's a little hard sometimes, being left out."

"Don't mention it." Pitch turned back to the battle; Aurum followed suit. There were only a few Grimm left. There was a simple kind of beauty to it, Aurum decided. Skye slowed the Grimm down while the other four sniped at them and Chiara called the shots. Aurum idly wondered if Chiara had a gun herself, or if her staff was more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of weapon.

The last of the Beowolves dissolved as they watched. Doug let out a cheer and pumped his fist in the air, then turned to Indie and held his hand out. Indie stared for a moment, then shrugged and high-fived her fellow sniper. Chiara glanced around at SAIJ, nodding in approval. "Nicely done, teams. We took out that pack in record time. I think we'll get along well." She narrowed her eyes. "We're still not gonna go easy on you in the tournament, though!"

"I'd be insulted if you did," Aurum snarked, back to her usual upbeat self for the moment. There was no real venom behind her words, though, and Chiara only grinned.

xxxxx

The mission went as Chiara had described: now and then, Grimm would approach the wall, only to be shot down by the students on the ramparts. Despite Pitch's pep talk, Aurum still grumbled about feeling useless on occasion. After the first couple instances, Skye gave up on reassuring her Faunus teammate of her usefulness and simply ignored her.

Team CTRS had kept a running tally of how many Grimm they'd destroyed during their time posted on the walls. In between incursions, they shared with SAIJ some stories from their years at Haven, and even some from before. Chiara and Tanner had both attended Temple Academy for their primary schooling and had been friends there, while Doug had gone to Sanctum and Pitch had attended Shadow Academy in Vacuo.

"… and, I mean, there wasn't even a single primary combat school in Vacuo until ten years ago, and the other kingdoms all had one a decade after the Great War. Vale and Mistral had two primary schools before Vacuo even had one." Pitch sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I loved growing up in Vacuo, but it's definitely lagging behind the other kingdoms in terms of technology. Maybe 'cause it's the farthest from Atlas, I dunno. The schools are the only places with any kind of tech beyond the basics."

"My grandad says there's talks about starting a primary combat school in Kuo Kuana," Aurum volunteered. "No guarantee it'll happen anytime soon, or even at all. A lot of Faunus are still leery of having humans on the island, and there aren't enough Faunus who are qualified to teach to staff an entire school." She paused a minute then added, "Our classmate Rue—she moved to Kuo Kuana from Atlas while her parents were involved in building the CCT tower, and she says there were a bunch of people who weren't happy with a human going to school with their kids."

Pitch flicked her wings in a shrug. "See, that's what a lot of people don't get. My parents say the discrimination against Faunus is way better than when they were kids, but some Faunus are prejudiced against humans, too. It goes both ways. That's one of the great things about Vacuo. It doesn't matter if you're Faunus or human, as long as you can fight." She paused for a minute, then snorted. "Wow this conversation got serious fast. Don't you have any entertaining stories to share?"

Indie launched into the story of how she'd unlocked her semblance at eight years old, how she'd been in her gym class at school and, completely by accident, had made a kickball that was sailing toward her do a full one-eighty and knocked it out of bounds. She was recounting the part about how the teachers had had to halt the game while they determined whether or not it counted as a foul when Jade, who was on lookout, yelled out, "We got a Nevermore! No… three of them!"

Without another word, the teams sprang into action. Chiara tossed something at Pitch. "Go for it."

Pitch caught the object and flicked her hand out, revealing it to be a large wire net. She hopped up onto the rampart next to Jade, unfolded her wings, and jumped, soaring high into the air. Indie was taken aback.

 _She can fly?!_

Doug began taking potshots at the monstrous birds while Chiara zeroed in on Skye. "When I give the signal, use fire or lightning on one of them." She zoomed away before Skye could clarify what she meant by "signal."

Up in the air, Pitch had spread out her net and was hovering near the top of an oak tree. One of the Nevermores—the smallest one—veered off, flying toward her. The winged Faunus grinned and with an expert flick of her hands, tossed the net over the creature. As the monster began to struggle, its wings became tangled and it started to drop.

" _Now_ , Schnee! Light 'em up!" Chiara ordered.

Skye flicked her Dust chamber to fire and slashed her sword through the air. The trapped bird's feathers began to smolder. As soon as it had sufficiently ignited, Skye cast a quick series of glyphs, yelling out, "Snowcat!"

Aurum burst into action, activating her semblance and leaping from glyph to glyph toward the flaming Grimm. As soon as she reached it, Skye switched from a line of glyphs to a circular formation. Aurum dashed between them in a similar fashion to Skye's own fighting style, delivering powerful slashes with her fans, until the Nevermore finally began to disintegrate.

The cat Faunus retreated to the wall with the help of another series of glyphs. Doug and Indie had managed to subdue the second Nevermore by themselves—all that remained were a few wisps of shadow.

The third creature, clearly the oldest and therefore the smartest, had halted its flight path and begun to swoop around warily. Chiara let out a string of cuss words. "I can probably injure it enough for the rest of you to take it out, but it's too far away! Any ideas?"

Aurum grinned. "You need to get closer? I can get you closer." She made eye contact with Skye and gestured toward the remaining creature.

Skye got the idea. With another flick of her sword she created more glyphs, leading out to the Nevermore's general area. Aurum grabbed Chiara, both of them dissolving into shadow. The Grimm was circling, its attention on the two teams making every attempt to destroy it. Aurum halted on the last glyph in the series, trusting that Skye would focus her energy enough to maintain it, and let herself and Chiara reform. "Is this close enough?"

The blonde girl nodded, turning to the monster and closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were no longer the blue-gray color they had been but a shade of gold nearly identical to Aurum's own. Her hair also appeared to be glowing. Chiara held her hands out and muttered under her breath, "You'd better close your eyes for this one."

Aurum did so, but she could still see the sudden, blinding flash through her eyelids. A final squawk from the monster, and the light faded. Aurum dared to open her eyes again. The Grimm had vanished from existence as though it had never been there at all. Chiara slumped against her. "That took a lot out of me… I might need some help getting back."

The older student's body was much warmer to the touch than a minute ago. The glow from her hair had faded a bit, but her eyes had yet to return to their normal shade. She leaned heavily on the Faunus as an ice bridge formed in midair, leading from their current location back to the top of the wall. The two slowly made their way across the slippery surface, with Chiara collapsing as soon as she reached solid ground.

Tanner bent over her team leader with a worried expression. "You overdid it again. What have I told you about that? You channel too much solar energy and you could literally burn up. You were only supposed to weaken it so we could take it out more easily!" She began half-dragging her semiconscious friend down the stairs.

"Sh-shut up," Chiara mumbled weakly to her teammate.

Tanner didn't dignify that with a response. The two vanished into the bunk room, with Tanner re-emerging alone few minutes later. "She'll be fine. I _told_ her she wasn't allowed to use her semblance on that level anymore, but when has she ever listened to me?"

Aurum's eyes widened. " _That_ was her semblance? That huge burst of light I could see even with my eyes closed?"

The three remaining members of CTRS had a silent conversation with their eyes before Doug nodded. "She calls it 'solar flare.' It lets her absorb solar energy into her body and channel it into an attack." He shook his head. "She'll be all right; it's not the first time this has happened, but she'll be super mega hungry when she wakes up."

The other team's willingness to share that bit of info spoke volumes about how worried they were. While it was considered acceptable to keep certain information to oneself in order to gain an advantage in the tournament, such considerations went out the window upon a Grimm attack. They were out of danger now; CTRS didn't _have_ to say that, but they had chosen to anyway, to reassure their comrades.

xxxxx

Chiara was still asleep four hours later when it came time for SAIJ to leave. Skye was hesitant to just go while their new friend was in that state. "Are you sure we should leave like this?"

Tanner, Pitch, and Doug nodded in unison. Tanner quickly answered, "We're posted here for another two days anyway. Besides, Doug is our team's medic; he can handle anything in the unlikely event that she's got more going on than sheer exhaustion."

Skye was still reluctant to leave like this. Jade had to pull her by the arm, saying, "They can handle it, or they'll call for backup. But if you stay here while you're like this, you're just gonna attract more Grimm." Skye finally acquiesced and followed her team, but not before extracting a promise from CTRS that they would contact her as soon as they made it back to Beacon.

 **So, a pretty epic fight scene and some more new characters! For those of you who aren't studying ecology, forestry, or something similar, "Douglas" is the name of a tree: the Douglas fir. I thought it would make a great name for a RWBY character! His last name is "rose" in Spanish… as in compass rose. (Get it?) I'm going with a bit of a theme for Team CTRS, so if you can figure out what it is, great job!**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	21. SAIJ’s Day Off

**I don't own anything except my original characters.**

 **SAIJ's Day Off**

No sooner had SAIJ entered their dorm room than Skye's scroll buzzed with a text message. Frowning at the Unknown ID, she flicked the notification to the side in order to view the message. Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "It's Chiara!"

The others immediately tried to look over her shoulder all at once (not too difficult; Skye was the shortest of them) to read the message.

 _Hey, my teammates told me how worried you were, so I thought I should let you know. I'm totally fine, just hungry. Tanner gave me an earful about overusing my semblance, though. See you when we make it back to Beacon!_

Skye let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness. I was afraid she might have done herself permanent damage."

Indie nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I'm really glad my semblance doesn't have a dangerous drawback like that." The others made various sounds of agreement.

Aurum hopped up onto her bunk and began bouncing up and down. "Hey, since this was our last mission this semester, how about we take Friday to go dress shopping for the dance?"

Jade gave her a disbelieving look. "You're excited for the dance? Does that mean Aubergine agreed to be your date?"

Aurum scowled at her green-haired teammate. "No, I haven't asked her yet. But I _will_ , okay? The dance isn't 'til after the tournament; I have time."

Jade gave her teammate a skeptical glance, but dropped the subject. She couldn't stand seeing her friend like this and not acting on her feelings; it was only making her miserable. Still, Aurum had a point. The dance wasn't for more than a month. There was plenty of time for the cat Faunus to ask out the girl she liked.

xxxxx

With only two more weeks of classes left until finals, the race to cram in some last-minute studying became even more intense. The students who were competing in the tournament always took their final exams at the host school, which meant there were three times as many people taking them as there had been last year.

The third- and fourth-year students weren't required to attend classes (although some did, out of sheer curiosity), so they'd developed a habit of monopolizing the library and the gym during school hours, and turning the rooms over to younger students after classes let out and on weekends (unless they were out on missions). It _usually_ worked out well, but on Wednesday Skye had to insert herself into an altercation between a first-year and a third-year who had their weapons drawn and were screaming at each other in the gym. Thankfully, Professor Vulpine showed up only a minute later and was able to handle the situation.

Bright and early on Friday morning (but not _too_ early; Indie was having none of that), Team SAIJ was headed into Vale to go dress shopping as they'd planned when Aurum's scroll let out a noise that sounded like a screeching eagle. Her teammates looked at her like she was nuts, but she just shook the scroll at them and offered, "New ringtone," by way of explanation.

The text turned out to be from her mother. _I'm at Beacon today, interviewing for the Grimm Studies position. Do you want to spend some time together after I finish?_

With a sigh, Aurum typed up her reply. _Sorry, in Vale dress shopping for the dance._ She looked it over and decided to add a frowny face before pushing Send.

Blake's response only took a moment. _All right. Have fun!_

Skye insisted on starting at a boutique she'd shopped at before. None of the others were huge shopping fans, so they didn't argue, but Jade's eyes started watering as soon as she looked at a few price tags. Elbowing Skye, she hissed, "I am _not_ paying this much for a dress I'll only wear once!"

Skye looked over the dress Jade was shaking at her and shook her head. "Absolutely not, that cut would never suit you. Here, let me look…" She vanished into the depths of the store while Jade muttered that that _wasn't_ the point she'd been trying to make.

Aurum had quickly selected a handful of possibilities and disappeared into the fitting room. Indie was being methodical as usual, but already had a couple hangers on her arm. While Skye assisted Jade with her own selection process, Aurum emerged from the fitting room, declaring, "I've found the perfect one!" She twirled around briefly to show them: an ankle-length strapless dress in a deep plum shade, with a gold sash around the waist and gold trim on the hem. The skirt flared out as she spun. "It fits _perfectly_! Now I just need shoes to go with it."

Jade squinted at her. "Can't you just wear your regular shoes? They have heels." Skye, Indie, and Aurum immediately face-palmed. Indie vanished into the fitting room Aurum had just vacated while Skye attempted to explain to Jade that you just _didn't_ wear your everyday clothes to a formal event, no matter how suitable they might be; the whole point was to get dressed up and wear things you didn't normally wear.

"Okay, so which one do you like better?" Indie had narrowed her selection to two dresses; she held them up for her partner to take a look.

Aurum considered both of the options. One was a royal blue only a couple shades off from her friend's hair with a short skirt and thin straps; the other was darker, more of a midnight blue, with a full-length skirt and halter top. There was a light sprinkling of silver glitter scattered across the fabric, giving the illusion of a night sky. Both choices were more risqué than Indie typically wore. "Definitely the longer one. You'll have to find some heels to go with it, but it totally works better with your figure than the other one."

Indie gave the dress another once-over, then quickly glanced down at her chest. "It's not like I have that much of a figure to draw attention to."

Aurum rolled her eyes. "Shut up, you have a decent figure and that dress definitely displays it to best advantage." She giggled. "Our illustrious team leader, on the other hand…"

Indie had to clap a hand over her mouth to stifle her own giggles. Luckily, Skye was still on the other end of the store and didn't hear the joke at her expense, or the accompanying laughter.

Jade had tried on all of two dresses from the clearance rack and had pronounced one good enough. It was long-sleeved and high in the back but lower in the front, in a dark forest green. The price was still high enough to make her cringe, but it would keep her scars hidden. She began browsing through accessories alongside Aurum and Indie while Skye tried on her own selections.

"Ugh, there's nothing here I like!" Aurum complained. "And these earrings are all for humans! That is so not cool!"

Indie had found a small teardrop necklace in shades of blue and silver. _That'll go perfectly with my dress!_ She added it to her mental list of purchases, and after deciding that yes, she could afford it, pulled it down from the rack.

Skye finally settled on a sleeveless dress with a white bodice and a skirt that started out pale blue at the waist, getting darker until it reached royal blue at the hem. Draping it over her arm and making her way to the front, she paused a couple times to check out some accessories of her own, but eventually passed them all up and laid her purchase out on the counter. The sales associate carefully spread it out, scanned the tag, and then handed over a sheet of paper. "Fill this out and we'll deliver it directly to you within a day."

The heiress quickly filled in the requested information while the rest of the team rang up their own purchases. Most of them paid with credit cards, while Jade handed over cash; their substantial allowances combined with few living expenses meant that for all Jade's griping about spending a lot of money, they all had a good amount saved up. Each fell to filling out their own info sheets in turn; nobody wanted to haul around a fancy dress while they put together the rest of the outfit.

Indie used her scroll to snap a photo of hers before they left, so she could match accessories to it, and a minute later Skye decided that was a good idea and ended up doing the same with her own dress. Aurum, with an exaggerated sigh, copied them after a minute, taking a picture of Jade's too while she was at it. Jade shot her Faunus teammate an annoyed look as the photo popped up on her scroll as a text.

As they emerged from the store, Aurum was still grumbling about the sad lack of Faunus accessories. "This is discrimination. I should report them to the White Fang."

"Uhh… I'm not sure it is discrimination," Indie mused. "When you take demand into account… there are fewer Faunus on Remnant than humans, and not all Faunus have ears as their trait. Considering that some Faunus like to wear earrings in their human ears even if they do, I'm not surprised there's a shortage. It all comes down to supply and demand, and apparently the demand is greater than the supply right now. I bet if enough people make a big deal out of it, there'll be more in a few months." She stopped short as the others stared at her. "What? Didn't any of you pay attention in economics?"

"No," Aurum answered immediately.

Jade snorted. "Economics? Like _that's_ a subject you can really learn from the back of a motorcycle."

Skye shrugged. "I paid attention. As the future head of the Schnee Dust Company, Mom made absolutely certain I know how the market works. I didn't realize that was a subject in regular schools though."

"Well, it is, and I liked learning about it," Indie mumbled. She _enjoyed_ learning new things; was that really so weird? "Where are we going now, anyway?"

"Ooh!" Skye suddenly stood up straighter. "I know! There's a custom clothing shop in Vale that opened up a few years ago. They specialize in combat gear for Huntsmen and Huntresses that's both functional and fashionable. Zelty found his combat outfit there; he says it's really reasonably priced and the staff are super helpful." She dug her scroll back out again. "I don't remember what it's called, but…" She did a search for "clothing stores in Vale" and carefully skimmed through the results. "Here it is! It's a couple blocks away, in the commercial district."

Jade shrugged. "Sounds good to me. We've still got hours to kill anyway."

Skye gave her partner a sideways glare—would it kill her to offer an actual opinion now and then?—which Jade either didn't notice or chose to ignore as they headed further into Vale.

xxxxx

The city was much more crowded than usual, on account of the festival being only a few weeks away. Aurum had to duck and sidestep so much it looked like she was dancing, while Skye simply glared at people until they got out of her way. Indie and Jade were both tall enough that they didn't have much trouble.

The upscale shops that lined the streets in this area were completely different than in Atlas, Skye knew. Citizens of Vale preferred more classic designs, and the shops were spaced out a little more, to let people browse more freely. Skimming the awnings, she pointed to one. "There. That's the one we're looking for."

"Looks cute," was Aurum's opinion. "Do they have earrings for Faunus?"

"How should I know?" Skye grumbled. "I've never actually _been_ there."

Indie rolled her eyes at their bickering and forged ahead to push the door open. There were a handful of customers browsing through the racks and a few employees. One greeted them as they entered. "Welcome to Custom Combat. Can I help you find anything?"

"Just looking for now," Skye answered. Her attention was caught by a jeweled hair clip on a shelf and she moved closer to it for a better look.

"Well, let us know if there's anything we can do for you," the salesperson replied, and moved off to the side to let the rest of them through.

Despite Jade's complete indifference to the idea of dressing up, she soon spotted a pair of low heels on a shelf that would go perfectly with the dress she'd chosen. They were black with a shiny copper trim. She pulled them off the shelf and looked them over more critically, having another mini heart attack as she checked the price. _Has nobody around here ever heard of thrift shops? So much for "reasonably priced," thank you_ _ **not**_ _, Skye._ Still, they were perfect, and ordinary enough that she could _maybe_ incorporate them into her combat outfit after the dance. Provided they fit, of course. And were comfortable. They were only about an inch tall, which meant she'd actually be able to walk in them (she had _zero_ experience wearing heels, and now wasn't the time to start). She sat down on a bench in order to try them on.

Indie had never bothered getting her ears pierced, so she didn't bother wasting her time looking at earrings. She started browsing the shoe rack next to Jade instead.

Aurum had fallen in love with a pair of gold and amethyst earrings. She flagged down a sales associate to ask, "Excuse me, are these designed for Faunus?"

The associate nodded. "In fact, they're designed to be completely customizable so they fit both Faunus and humans."

Aurum stared. "Seriously? I've never even heard of that."

Another associate had come up behind them. "Our boss holds the rights to the design. She believes that fashion should be appreciated by everyone. Human, Faunus, doesn't matter. We stock it all."

"Well, in that case…" Aurum closed her hand over the earrings. "I'll take 'em." She held out her scroll so the associates could take a look. "They'll go great with this dress, right?"

Both associates immediately started gushing. "Oh, they're gorgeous! And you're right, perfect for that dress."

Jade had watched the whole exchange from the bench where she'd just pulled her sneakers back on and looked thoroughly bemused. Finally, she simply shook her head and went up to the counter to ring out her purchase while she waited for the others to finish.

"This everything?" the woman behind the register asked, one eyebrow quirking up toward the sunglasses resting on her forehead.

Jade nodded, one eye still on Skye, who was walking around in a pair of three-inch heels. _How does she do that? I'd be flat on my face before I'd taken two steps in those death traps!_

The woman finished ringing out the shoes as Aurum and Indie came up to the counter. Indie had apparently decided on a pair of strappy wedge heels, while Aurum was clutching the earrings she'd found, along with a matching necklace. Jade handed over a few Lien and took her bag, then stepped aside so the others could buy their stuff.

Skye joined the end of the line, toting a pair of silver earrings that weren't too dissimilar from her normal ones, only they had teardrop-shaped sapphires and dangled down a bit further.

As the associate finished ringing out Aurum and moved on to Indie, she eyed the team members shrewdly before asking, "You four wouldn't happen to be related to Team RWBY, would you?"

Skye was immediately on her guard. From the looks of it, so were her teammates. Team RWBY had made a lot of enemies during their time as Huntresses. Most of those enemies were currently imprisoned, incapacitated, or dead, but not all of them. Neo had never been apprehended. Neither had Emerald Sustrai. Both had illusory semblances; neither one would have any qualms about using the members of SAIJ against their parents. Skye finally replied, in a wary tone, "Why do you ask?"

The woman raised one eyebrow at them before replying, "Well, I know _you_ are. Schnee heiress; I've seen you on the feeds." She turned to Indie, gesturing toward her hood. "You? You've copied Ruby Rose's signature accessory, so either she's your mother or your hero. Or both. I'm guessing both." Jade was next. "Your hair's a different color, but there's no mistaking your resemblance to Yang Xiao Long." Lastly, to Aurum, "And you… you're the spitting image of Blake Belladonna. It's uncanny, really." She gave a satisfied smirk before asking, "Well, how'd I do?"

Skye finally answered, "It sounds like you already knew the answer before you even asked."

The smirk widened a fraction. "You bet I did. Coco Adel, Team CVFY of Beacon and Shade."

Skye finally relaxed her stance. "Nice to meet you. Skye Schnee."

"Jade Xiao Long."

"Indigo Amitola-Rose."

"Aurum Belladonna."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you all," Coco told them, the hint of a smirk still on her face.

"Wait, what do you mean, ' _finally meet us_ '?" Jade asked.

Coco's smirk became a real smile at that point. "Your combat teacher at Beacon is a former teammate of mine. She keeps me up-to-date on all the most promising students she encounters. When I heard Team RWBY's kids had formed their own team, I had a feeling you'd be coming in here sooner or later…" Coco raised one shoulder in a half shrug. "Well, I'm glad you did. It was good to see you all for myself… although I'll have to get up to Beacon at some point to see what you're really made of before the tournament starts. If you come back in, don't expect to find me here; I'm still active in the field. But my staff will definitely be able to help you out if I'm gone."

"Wait, is this _your_ shop?" Indie piped up.

"Sure is," Coco responded, looking around proudly. "This was the dream: a shop that sells comfortable but still fashionable combat gear. Took me a while to get my start; I was in Vacuo before this. Not a whole lot of demand for high fashion in the desert. A couple years ago I finally wised up to that fact and moved back to Vale. Found some employees, and boom, I'm in business."

"Sounds like a good time," Jade mused. "If you like fashion, anyway."

Coco snickered. "Not everyone cares about fashion as much as I do. But hey…" She gave Jade a quick once-over. "You look pretty good to me, even if you don't give a damn about it." She winked suddenly. "In any case… the clothes are important, yeah, but it's the weapons that really make or break a Huntress, when all's said and done."

xxxxx

After saying goodbye to Coco and her employees, SAIJ headed out, back to Beacon. Aurum casually reached for her scroll, realizing guiltily after she saw the text message from her mom that she hadn't checked it since taking the picture of her dress earlier. _Oops_ … She pulled the message open on the screen.

 _I've been offered the position._

Aurum immediately began composing a reply. _That's awesome! Have you accepted it yet?_

Blake's response popped up a couple minutes later. _Not yet; I wanted to ask you about it first. Would it be weird for you, having your mom be your teacher? And your teammates are family too._

Aurum took a minute to think about it. Would it be weird, having a new teacher who happened to be her mother? Finally, she began typing a response. _Not really, I don't think. Starting third year, Beacon students don't have regular class times, so we'd only have to meet if there was something we needed to talk about for our independent study._

She hit Send. The typing bubble popped up right away, but it was nearly two minutes later that Blake's answer appeared on the screen. _All right. If you're sure it doesn't bother you, I'll think it over and get back to Glynda in a few days._

The Faunus girl silently pumped a fist in the air triumphantly. Having her mom as a teacher? Okay, maybe it would be a _little_ weird, but if it made her happy… why not? Aurum was just glad her mother was still alive to take a teaching job. There were so many pros who ended up getting killed in the field… most never even got the chance to retire. She counted herself lucky that she still had her whole, extended family.

xxxxx

With missions almost every weekend up until now, and the tournament right around the corner, nobody had really had the chance to stress about final exams. Even Jade had only had a brief freak-out before getting distracted, which Indie figured was probably a new record for her cousin. The only real difference in the exam schedule from last year was that the second-years from Atlas, Haven, and Shade would be taking their finals alongside SAIJ, CROM, and AZSR.

The semester wrapped up in a whirlwind of activity. SAIJ passed all of their exams, along with their classmates and the exchange students; families were showing up almost every day; and the Amity Colosseum could be seen hovering over the Beacon grounds, ready for the time when the competitors would face off against each other for the title of Vytal Tournament Champion.

 **Gahh… Coco wasn't supposed to be in this fic. I'm not sure what it says about me that I keep letting characters invade the story, but in this case, it actually worked with the events in the chapter, so I decided what the hell and just rolled with it. I'm totally looking forward to seeing more of CFVY in After the Fall.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy! (The festival starts next chapter and I can't** _ **wait**_ **for y'all to see what I have planned!)**


	22. Opening Festivities

**As you may have noticed, I've been doing a bit of maintenance on this story. I've added some minor details, gotten rid of the review responses from the first few chapters (because I decided to reply to those via PM and it looked a bit messy to just… stop), and gone through and fixed some errors (I only found about a dozen—not bad for someone who doesn't have a beta and does all her own grammar/spellchecking!), though I haven't gotten all the way though yet. I've also edited the info on my profile, so check that out if you like.**

 **I do not own any characters, locations, or events you recognize from RWBY.**

 **Opening Festivities**

The morning of the festival's opening ceremonies dawned bright and clear. Skye was the first one out of bed, as usual. She wanted to look as perfectly put together as possible; it would be completely unacceptable for the Schnee heiress to be seen as anything less than perfect. It didn't matter so much in school or on missions, and a certain amount of disarray was acceptable in combat situations, but she didn't want to take the chance that a stray camera would happen to catch her looking less than her absolute best.

Surprisingly, Indie was the next one to enter the bathroom. Skye was more than a little startled; Indie was definitely _not_ a morning person in any sense of the word. Even when out in the field, she maintained a certain level of grumbling if she was woken before six in the morning. She didn't say a word to Skye, not even a grunt, just turned on the shower and left the room to grab her clothes while the water warmed up.

Skye took one last look in the mirror to ensure her hair was as neat and tidy as she could make it, before leaving the bathroom and going to put on her necklace and earrings. As a final touch, she tied her scarf around her waist and carefully holstered her sword. The weapon wasn't necessary—today would be the show put on by the previous Tournament Champion; the earliest their first match would take place would be tomorrow—but she was a Huntress in training and she wanted the festival-goers to see her as such, not just as the heiress.

Aurum and Jade were already up and dressed by the time Indie got out of the shower. It only took a few minutes for the hooded girl to brush her hair and put on her shoes before standing up. "Okay, let's go eat."

Breakfast was even more rowdy than it had been yesterday. With all the extra students around, it was never quiet in the dining hall, but the excitement had reached its peak. At least, Skye hoped so. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle it if it got any louder—and it was no doubt worse for Faunus like Aurum, with their extra-sensitive hearing. Everywhere Skye turned, the topic of conversation revolved around the festival.

The opening exhibition was scheduled to begin at noon in the colosseum, but the fairgrounds would be opening at nine. Ruby had texted Indie yesterday to say that she, Ilia, and Taiyang would be coming in from Patch this morning; Indie and Jade were both ecstatic about seeing their grandad. Aurum had been in contact with her own family, and she was expecting them to show up sometime today as well. Jade had yet to hear from Yang, but that was pretty much the usual.

Right on cue, Skye's scroll vibrated. It was from her mother. _I won't make it to the opening ceremonies, but expect me to arrive by evening!_ She sent a smiley face in response and went back to her meal.

As the mass of excited students began gradually drifting out toward the festival grounds, Skye continued sipping her coffee. Indie and Jade had finished their food and were having a mini sword fight with their silverware, while Aurum was practically vibrating in excitement. Only a handful of teams were still in the dining hall when Skye decided she'd made her friends hold in their excitement for long enough, standing up and making her way outside, followed closely by her teammates.

It was a crisp fall day, sunny and cool, perfect for kicking off the festival, Skye decided. While the colosseum itself was protected from the elements, the fairgrounds were not, so people were more likely to hang around on a nice day. SAIJ began meandering through the stalls with no particular destination in mind.

Indie was checking out a smoothie stand when Aurum was tackled from behind with no warning. Automatically, she turned and flipped the attacker over her shoulder, pinning them to the ground. Lian grinned up at her sheepishly. "Hi."

"I told you that was a bad idea."

The new speaker was instantly recognizable, although Citrine had neatened up her appearance since the last time they'd seen her. She strode forward and made as if to haul Lian to her feet, but the younger girl popped back up as soon as Aurum let go of her, letting SAIJ get a better look at Citrine.

The blonde girl was much more tan than she'd been when they'd first met her, and she had traded her worn, ill-fitting everything for a similar outfit that suited her much better. A pale pink t-shirt was worn with a new dove-gray bomber jacket, along with a pair of gray skinny jeans. On the back of the jacket was the emblem of an angular, stylized flower that resembled a six-pointed snowflake in the same shade of pink as her shirt. She wore shoes now, a pair of black boots with a series of three silver buckles on each, and her dirty blonde hair was pulled into a much neater tail than it had been previously. A long necklace completed the outfit, with five different-colored quartz crystals dangling from it.

Lian was brushing herself off. Skye eyed her for a moment, then asked, "Did you sneak away to come here again?"

The younger girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Are you gonna ask me that every time I come to Beacon? Seriously, that was _one time_. Mom and Dad went to check the mission boards, I think. Dad gave us fifty Lien each and told us to stay out of trouble."

"Hey!" Citrine aimed a light kick at her sister. Lian danced out of the way, giggling. "That 'stay out of trouble' was definitely directed at _you_ , not me." Lian stuck out her tongue in response.

Skye had to fight a smile. Maybe those two had only been sisters for a few months, but they definitely acted like family. Not for the first time, she wished she had a sister of her own… although her teammates certainly filled that role. "Well, why don't you explore the festival with us? We can certainly help on the whole 'staying out of trouble' front."

"Speak for yourself," Aurum butted in, grinning.

Citrine considered for a moment. "I'd like that."

They tried to be methodical in their explorations, but there was so much going on that it was easy to get distracted. Citrine had never been to the festival before; she kept stopping to stare at the attractions, like a man juggling flaming torches, or a troupe of actors setting up a stage for a play. She wasn't the only one getting distracted either. Indie paused at a sign advertising live chess matches; Jade kept eyeing the crowds looking for other family members; and Aurum was practically drooling over the festival food. Skye had to half-drag her Faunus teammate away from a cotton candy stand.

Lian cheerfully skipped along, unconcerned with the passersby she kept nearly bumping into, until her eyes focused on something ahead and she broke rank to dash forward, yelling something the others couldn't quite make out. She wound up hanging onto the arm of a very _large_ young man with dark hair and panda ears. Skye began mentally composing an apology, until the man carefully lifted his arm, taking the little girl with him, and broke into a huge smile.

"Leelee! How'd you know I was here?" SAIJ and Citrine had caught up by this point. The young man acknowledged them with a quick head nod before returning his attention to the girl hanging onto his arm. "I've missed you, you know."

Lian pouted at him. "Melano, you haven't visited in more than a _year_. What's so bad about coming home sometime?"

He gently tugged one of her pigtails in a playful manner before setting her back down. "Come on, kiddo. I live in Kuo Kuana now; it's not exactly next door. Besides, I have a real job now, chasing around pipsqueaks like you." His eyes refocused on the blonde and he favored her with another warm smile. "You must be Citrine. Mom and Dad said they were adopting another kid; it's nice to finally meet you. Melano Leuca."

With Lian no longer attached to him, everyone could see that Melano was dressed very casually, in jeans, a blue-gray tee, and sneakers that were too old to be called white. There was a smile in his brown eyes, he wore a thin silver chain around his neck, and he had a sleepy wolf's head in a circle—the White Fang emblem—tattooed on his right arm. Citrine took a moment before replying, "Citrine Glacia. Yeah, Mom and Dad started off as my host family while I was at Flare Academy, but they decided to adopt me a few months in."

Melano nodded. "Well, welcome to the family. Are they around anywhere? I managed to get enough time off for the festival but not any more than that; I need to be on the ship back to Menagerie the day after it ends, so I was hoping to spend as much time as possible with them while I can."

"We can look for them while we explore the festival!" Lian exclaimed. "They should be done with checking the mission boards by now, and I bet they're out here."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Melano grinned. "Let's go!"

xxxxx

Trying to get back to searching was easier said than done. The distractions hadn't diminished, and Lian kept chattering away to Melano about things that had happened since she'd seen her older brother last. "… And I passed my first-year competency test at Flare last week!"

"Aww, good for you, kiddo!" Melano congratulated her.

Citrine mock scowled. "She got a higher score than me too. Not fair."

Lian just shrugged. "Well, I've been in training longer than you. It makes sense that I'd score higher."

Citrine grumbled something unintelligible in response.

The group had only made it to the next row of tents when a familiar sight caught Jade's attention. Grinning, she diverted her steps to take her over to the picnic area, where her mother was engaged in a "friendly" arm-wrestling match. It seemed to be a draw: Yang was giving it her all, from what Jade could see, but Nora wasn't giving an inch.

Jade was more than a little amused to see that the two women were both using their left arms, presumably because Yang had a habit of detaching her prosthetic for dramatic effect mid-match. The bespectacled Huntress made a subtle come-over-here gesture to her teammates and friends. Skye made a shushing motion at Lian, who looked blank until she turned around and her eyes widened… just as Nora slammed Yang's fist down onto the table with so much force Jade was surprised the wood didn't crack.

Yang made an annoyed face as she tossed a ten-Lien card across the table, although Jade could tell her mother was trying hard not to smile.

"I win again!" Nora declared. "Who's next?"

Melano stepped out from the center of the group. "I'll give it a try."

Somehow Nora hadn't seen the large panda Faunus amid the group. She jumped up from her seat as soon as she spotted him. "Melano! Oh, I'm so glad you made it! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

Melano grinned sheepishly. "Hey Mom. I, uh… I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the time off from work until a few days ago, so I decided to surprise you." His eyes took note of the pile of cash sitting off to the side. "So… you're arm-wrestling people for money again? I thought you weren't allowed to do that anymore."

Nora shrugged. "I got bored." No further explanation seemed forthcoming.

"How much to play?"

"Well…" Nora's expression took on a sly cast. "Bet whatever you want, I match it, and winner take all." Her eyes narrowed playfully. "You think you can beat me?"

Melano fished a five-Lien card out of his wallet. "I'm gonna try."

"All right then!" Nora pulled the same amount from her accumulated winnings. "Let's go."

Yang quickly vacated her seat, letting Melano take it instead, and went over to stand next to Jade, giving her a quick hug.

Jade was unprepared for how quickly the arm-wrestling match got serious. Melano was clearly giving every ounce of effort he had, but Nora was slowly gaining ground, pressing him back inch by inch. Finally, the Faunus couldn't take it anymore. Their fists slammed into the table almost as hard as with Yang, making a small dent in the wooden surface.

"Aww, well…" Melano looked a little sheepish. "I had to try." He stood up to make room for the next challenger, but quickly paused to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. "I wish Peony could have come to see the tournament too, but I know she's busy with college and everything."

Nora shook her head. "The tournament is broadcast to every corner of Remnant; there's no way the best school in Atlas won't have it on every screen. She'll at least be able to watch, even if she can't be here."

Indie had been quiet until now, but spoke up. "Hey, the exhibition is about to start! We don't wanna miss out!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Nora declared, springing out of her seat. "Let's get our butts up to that flying monstrosity and watch people smack each other around!"

xxxxx

Melano and Citrine hung to the back of the group as they made their way to the airfield, where airships waited to shuttle competitors and spectators up to the colosseum. Aurum didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she could hear every word they were saying.

"…like having a little sister?"

"Yeah." Aurum could tell Citrine was smiling. "It's… well, it's taken some getting used to. I was an only child before, and now suddenly I have _three_ siblings? I haven't even met Peony yet, not in person anyway. But Lian is _really_ sweet and also a good sparring partner. Although she usually wipes the floor with me."

Melano chuckled. "Yep, Leelee is very… _enthusiastic_ about hitting things. She gets it from Mom, in case you couldn't tell."

Aurum tried to pick up her pace so she wouldn't hear the conversation. It was a futile attempt; her kitty ears kept track of it even after she folded them down.

"…hadn't noticed." Citrine muttered drily. "Why do you call her Leelee?"

Aurum could hear the smile in Melano's voice as he answered, "She couldn't pronounce Lian when she was learning how to talk. It stuck, to some degree, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who still calls her that."

Citrine giggled. "What do you do for your job?"

"I teach seventh grade," Melano answered. "So basically, take Leelee's curiosity and impulsiveness, multiply it by fifteen, and that's my classroom. And my free time is mostly spent doing work for the White Fang; being a Faunus with a human family means I'm a great representative for Faunus-human relations."

The conversation petered out after that, to Aurum's relief. They all managed to board the shuttle without too much hassle. Lian squirmed excitedly in her seat the whole time; Citrine had gotten a window seat, and was staring out at the colosseum. Aurum leaned over and nudged her.

"Never been to the festival before?"

Citrine shook her head, her eyes as wide as saucers. "It… it's so _big_. How does something like that have the capacity to fly?"

Aurum grinned. "Lots and lots of gravity Dust, for starters."

"It must take every gravity crystal that exists in Remnant to create that," Citrine muttered, still sounding somewhat in awe.

"Well, it's been around since the early days of the Vytal Festival," Indie interjected. Her eyes lit up as they always did when she was about to impart some knowledge. "It wouldn't exist without Atlas technology, but all four kingdoms worked together, combining their strengths to create a fitting stage for the competitors. It can seat upwards of ten thousand people, with the capacity for more in standing room. There's also a specially designed hard-light forcefield that separates the audience from the competitors, allowing them to see everything that goes on without any risk of injury to themselves." She paused to breathe after the mini history lesson, then turned a bit sheepish. "Um, sorry. Did you know any of that already?"

Citrine shook her head, her attention now somewhat diverted from the floating colosseum where they were about to dock. "I've watched the tournament before, but it's hard to get a sense of _scale_ from a screen. I had no idea about any of that."

"Well, then you're in for a real treat!" Aurum cheered. "The festival always kicks off with someone from the hosting school making a speech, but that doesn't take very long and then the person who won the tournament last time will do an exhibition. It's up to them what kind of exhibition it is; some people have an actual match against an opponent, but others prefer to showcase their skills to their full extent with a sort of choreographed routine."

Jade broke in. "The winner of the fifty-first Vytal Tournament was a woman named Blanche Oakes from Atlas. She won in her third year, so she's been graduated and working as a Huntress for a year now. I watched her matches—Mom always attends the festival in person so she can be extra security if needed—so I've been coming to watch the tournament for as long as I can remember. Blanche can do _incredible_ things with Dust."

Indie nodded fiercely. "I got a lot of my ideas for Dust combo moves after watching her matches. And she uses a sword-to-rifle weapon along with a really evasive fighting style." She stopped suddenly then continued, "Did we ever learn what her semblance is though?"

Skye was the first to shake her head. "Nope. She doesn't advertise it. Could be it's something that's not super useful in a fight against other people, or it could just be that it's really subtle and it's not obvious when she's doing anything. Or maybe something that she can use only under very specific conditions. Really, there's any number of reasons."

The conversation came to a halt as the airship docked and the passengers poured out. Jade very carefully looked straight ahead while she disembarked—her fear of heights was mostly under control now, but that didn't mean she was okay with seeing the _hundreds of feet_ between her and the ground. Aurum had no such qualms; she immediately flew to the railing and exclaimed, "Ooh, look how high we are!"

"No," Jade replied flatly.

"Buzzkill," Aurum muttered.

"Hey, no fighting," Skye ordered. "We're here to have fun, remember?"

Aurum rolled her eyes at her team leader as they strolled into the main stadium.

xxxxx

Once inside the stadium, it only took a moment for Aurum to spot her family—her brother, parents, and grandparents—sitting with Ruby, Ilia, and Taiyang. Ruby and Sun both waved enthusiastically to catch the group's attention. Aurum suppressed her semblance to make her way over, but tackled her dad as soon as she was close enough. Sun laughed and gently tweaked one of her ears before setting her back down. Only a few minutes before the exhibition started, Ren slipped quietly into the seat next to Citrine. Skye waved to Winter, seated about sixty degrees to their left, with a number of students in Atlesian uniforms.

Watching Blanche slide around the stadium was like a dream. Aurum couldn't help but be envious of the graceful way she avoided attacks as though they simply weren't there. The former champion had chosen to perform her exhibition against another skilled fighter, somebody none of them seemed to have heard of, but whose skill was obvious. Indie was practically bouncing up and down in her seat, muttering about the specs of Blanche's weapon. Aurum and Lian were literally bouncing up and down, Aurum because she shared Indie's love of exotic weaponry, Lian because she was excited and all that excess energy had to go _somewhere_.

As Blanche dealt one final blow to her opponent, it seemed the entire stadium stood up and cheered. From the announcer's box came Doctor Oobleck's voice. "What a beginning to the Vytal Festival, everybody! If you're just now tuning in, I am Bartholomew Oobleck and you are watching the Vytal Festival Tournament! Blanche Oakes, our previous Tournament Champion, has just finished her exhibition match, demonstrating how she fought her way to victory two years ago! Our student matchups begin tomorrow! Make sure you tune in at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning to see the first official match of the tournament!"

"Yes, and we will be here for the duration," Professor Scarlatina's voice added. "I am looking forward to seeing our students face off against each other. May the best fighter win!"

Yang snickered. "He does the commentary every time Beacon hosts the tournament. He did it when _we_ were competing, twenty-four years ago." She grinned. "It's Velvet's first time as cohost, though. Guess she got over her fear of public speaking."

Jade shot a surprised glance at her mother. "Fear of public speaking? Our professor? She's never had a problem talking in class. I mean, I know this is a bigger crowd than that… but still."

Yang shrugged. "Well, she was a little… socially awkward. She liked to let her fighting skills do the talking… kind of like someone else I know," she added, grinning cheekily at Ruby, who waved her hand in an embarrassed 'oh-stop-talking' way. "But clearly she's done well for herself."

"Festivities will resume tomorrow morning," came Professor Scarlatina's voice again. "In the meantime, we ask that all attendees and competitors exit the colosseum. We look forward to providing exciting matches for you all!"

xxxxx

"And our first matchup will be…" Doctor Oobleck's voice boomed out of the speakers.

SAIJ watched as the randomization wheel spun. Indie held her breath, desperately hoping that they wouldn't be up first. The wheel spun, quickly at first, then slower and slower, until it landed on a pair of teams.

"Team Cobalt of Shade versus Team Dusk of Atlas!" Professor Scarlatina finished. "Teams, take your places!"

Indie let out the breath she'd been holding as the eight students entered the arena. Team CBLT was an all-male team in their fourth year. She'd heard the gossip around the school and knew that they were heavily favored to win. Team DSSC, on the other hand, was evenly divided between male and female, and had been given much less credit; however, their expression on the screens indicated that they weren't going down without a fight. She watched in fascination as the biomes were selected: a mountain rising up into DSSC's half of the arena, and a lava field for CBLT.

"Three, two, one… BEGIN!"

The hooded archer watched in awe as one of the girls sprang forward, slicing into her opponents and dealing a solid amount of damage before they'd even processed her presence. The other members of DSSC began attacking, while CBLT struggled to overcome the disadvantage, to no avail. They were completely decimated in minutes. Indie wondered how in all the talk she'd heard, Team DSSC had been so completely dismissed; the four students were extremely skilled fighters. _Guess it's true what they say: never underestimate your opponent._

"And with that final blow, Team CBLT is eliminated!" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed. "What a way to start the tournament, I must say. And now for our next round…"

The wheels began to spin again.

"Team SAIJ of Beacon…"

The rest of the Beacon second-years gave shouts of encouragement as their classmates stood to take their places in the arena.

"… versus Team MGNA of Shade!"

Rhoda suddenly looked like she'd received an electric shock. "Did he say… MGNA?"

 **Okay, so maybe I couldn't resist a little cliffhanger. I'm evil…**

 **Only one new character introduced here, and his name's a bit of a joke. "Melano Leuca" comes from the Greek words meaning "black white" … but it's also part of** _ **Ailuropoda melanoleuca**_ **, the scientific name for the giant panda.**

 **While I was going through and making minor edits earlier, I noticed one other thing. Thirty-three people have this fic on story alert, which means that every time I post a new chapter, thirty-three notifications are getting sent out to various people—and yet, I receive an average of two reviews for each new chapter! I don't expect a whole long paragraph, but constructive criticism is welcome, and even just a 'nice job!' or 'thanks for updating!' would be much appreciated, to let me know that people are liking what I'm writing. Pretty please? *puppy dog eyes***

 **At any rate, please read, review, and enjoy!**


	23. SAIJ Versus MGNA

**See what happens when lots of people leave reviews? I post a new chapter early! I kid, I kid. Due to some real-world stuff that's happening at the moment, I've decided to switch my update schedule from Mondays to Fridays. After this, I'll go back to posting new chapters every two weeks.**

 **Also, Blu3B3rry, your review is much appreciated, but your PM feature is turned off so I couldn't reply… I didn't even realize that was a thing. Thanks so much!**

 **I do not own RWBY.**

 **SAIJ Versus MGNA**

As SAIJ and MGNA waited for their match to begin, Skye looked over their opponents with a critical eye. She was the team's strategist for good reason; she hadn't seen MGNA training at all during the last few months they'd been on Beacon's campus, so she wanted to get a feel for what her team was up against while she still could.

Marigold had traded her casual outfit she'd worn when they'd first met her for a combat outfit that resembled nothing so much as a school uniform. Skye wondered if that was meant to be ironic, since Shade alone of the four academies had no official uniform assigned. Consisting of a short-sleeved royal blue polo, a yellow tie, a pleated blue skirt, and yellow knee socks with brown loafers, Marigold's attire didn't paint her as being much of a threat… but the bloodthirsty expression on the other team leader's face was more than a little unnerving. The redhead held a single pistol in her right hand, with another attached to the back of her skirt. A four-leaf clover emblem was visible on the stock of each weapon; the same emblem was emblazoned on her tie in navy blue. Her tail flicked back and forth excitedly.

Argentum had a pair of ripped black jeans and a steel-gray t-shirt, with a silver breastplate covering most of his chest. There was a largeish dent in the metal of the upper right quadrant, and matching armor covered his entire left arm. He also had on a pair of scuffed gray sneakers that looked heavy; Skye made a mental note not to let him land any kicks if she could help it. An enormous sword that looked like a supersized version of his fang earring was held loosely in his left hand.

Cole wore a dark blue sleeveless vest, with the top few buttons undone, and a pair of khaki cargo shorts. With his sturdy brown boots, he'd look like any ordinary manual laborer, if it wasn't for the silver crossbow gripped in his right hand and the quiver of bolts hanging from his belt. The same winged-star emblem that adorned Rhoda's shoes and shield was embossed in the dark brown leather of the quiver.

Garnet wore the same outfit from before, confirming that it was indeed her combat outfit. Her weapons were a fairly basic-looking sword and shield; Skye suspected there was more to them than was visible.

Skye's observations had taken only a few seconds. The biome roulette began spinning as she assessed her own state and that of her teammates, finally determining that if they weren't ready for this fight, well, there was nothing they could do about it now. Her eyes found their way to the biome indicators, just as they stopped spinning. The floor opened up, raising a large hardwood forest to their side of the arena, and a shallow ocean with a sandy beach for MGNA.

More calculations ran through Skye's head in the blink of an eye, and she decided that the terrain advantage lay with SAIJ. A team from the desert kingdom was unlikely to be very experienced in an ocean or forest setting… but she hadn't forgotten Rhoda mentioning that her family had moved around a lot. It was probable that Cole, at least, would have some experience in conditions other than sand or rock. However…

Indie glanced her way, making brief eye contact; Skye gave her a tiny nod. If Indie could get herself up a tree as quickly as possible, their odds of victory increased dramatically. Even if she couldn't, her close combat skills had improved to the point where Skye was confident in her ability to last until she found an opening to escape.

"Three, two one… BEGIN!"

xxxxx

Before Indie could make her way to a tree, Marigold was on her. The fox Faunus had apparently singled her out as the weakest link, and her unnerving grin had widened at seeing how unprepared the hooded archer was for a close-combat fight. Indie managed to parry her blows, and knocking the redhead back a few steps, took a split second to take stock of her teammates' situations.

Jade was going up against Argentum and not having much luck. At five nine, Jade wasn't short, but Argentum had nearly a foot on her. Every swing of her tonfa was met with the steel of his sword, and every counterattack he attempted was skillfully dodged. Neither of them had scored any hits yet.

Aurum was doing somewhat better against Garnet. The cat Faunus was using her semblance to literally run circles around the older girl, and it was beginning to show. Garnet's aura had taken the largest hit so far.

Cole had stayed at a safe distance and was aiming his crossbow bolts at Skye. She'd deflected every shot so far, but he wasn't letting her take much time to mount attacks of her own, only scoring a couple points worth of damage.

"Yah!" Marigold yelled as she returned to pummeling Indie with her pistols.

 _You'd better have a plan, Skye; I am not letting this sneering face haunt me for the rest of my life!_

Putting more power into her blows, Indie was able to deal a little damage to Marigold's aura, but there was no way she could hold out for long. Even if her close range fighting had improved, the two of them were on completely different levels. Marigold clearly specialized in fighting up close and personal; no sniper would be able to match her skill.

"Grand Illusion!"

At Skye's words, the name of their full team attack, Indie narrowed her eyes and threw her elbow into Marigold's throat. While the Faunus staggered back, her aura taking a satisfying dip, the archer reached out with her leg and hooked it around the older girl's ankle, tripping her. Indie didn't stick around to watch her hit the ground, though; as soon as she felt the redhead's weight shift enough, she was off like a shot from her own bow, scampering to relative safety up the nearest tree.

Once perched on a branch a good forty feet up, she took a brief moment to survey the scene, keeping one eye specifically on Cole. Crossbows generally had a shorter range than a recurve like Crescent Ranger, but packed more power. She was betting she was still within his range at this distance; luckily Skye was keeping him busy. As planned, her teammates had done their best to lure their opponents into the same general area. Marigold, unfortunately, had given chase and was nowhere near her teammates. _Three out of four… good enough._

Letting out the war cry that was their signal, she let her teammates know she was in position. Jade immediately turned and began running toward Aurum as the cat Faunus put the two halves of Aurora Blaze together to create a shield. While Skye summoned a gravity glyph into being to hold the three opponents in place, Jade leaped up, landing on the joined tessen and using the gravity Dust Aurum had loaded into it to rocket herself high into the air, turning invisible to everyone but Indie as soon as her sneakers left the golden surface. Aurum immediately sped off to occupy Marigold, her part in their team attack finished.

From her vantage point, Indie could see her airborne teammate locking her tonfa together at the base and placing a large gravity Dust crystal at the end. The hooded girl narrowed her eyes in concentration.

Jade landed on her feet back on the ground exactly where Indie wanted her: directly in front of their trapped opponents. Garnet's bright teal eyes went wide as the bespectacled fighter reappeared, and Jade's grin widened a fraction as she cocked her weapon like a baseball bat—and swung.

With the gravity Dust activated, the strike carried much more power than usual. Argentum ducked to the side at the last minute, managing to dodge the worst of the swing and only getting knocked back a few steps, with minimal damage to his aura. His two teammates weren't so lucky. Garnet went flying straight into the hard-light barrier surrounding the arena; the buzzer sounded a split second later. Cole, by sheer random chance, flew backward into a tree branch that halted his momentum. He landed with a heavy thud on the ground, still within bounds, but with his aura only barely still at acceptable levels. No sooner had he pulled himself to his feet than an arrow caught him in the chest, lowering his aura into the red and eliminating him from the match.

"Ooh, what a show!" Doctor Oobleck's voice sounded from the announcer's box. Indie had nearly forgotten that this was a televised tournament with numerous spectators until that point, but now the roar of the crowd reached her ears once again. "And with that incredible display of teamwork resulting in a double elimination, Team SAIJ is left with the advantage!"

"Indeed!" Professor Scarlatina's voice took over. "Our aura readouts confirm that Cole Nyx has had his aura enter the red mere seconds after Garnet Paladin was eliminated by ring out. Things are not looking good for Team MGNA right now…"

Skye immediately dashed forward to take Argentum. The large young man had avoided taking much damage so far; his aura was holding at seventy-three percent. She leaped around, creating glyph platforms for herself and dodging his strikes. Jade had joined Aurum and the two were currently double-teaming Marigold. The fox Faunus was managing to hold her own despite the two-on-one odds; she'd called up her shadow to her side and it was mirroring her moves. Indie stayed in the tree and took potshots where she could. There wasn't much else she could do offensively, but she _was_ able to ensure the shots that Aurum and Jade were taking connected, while deflecting bullets from Marigold and Argentum. They had their opponents on the ropes, for sure…

xxxxx

Jade continued swinging, her weapons a blur of green and purple in the air. She was getting frustrated, which didn't happen often. Marigold's semblance had essentially leveled the playing field. Her shadow self packed all the power of the real thing, and her fighting style was well-suited to taking on multiple opponents.

Without warning, an arrow sailed down from the tree, nailing the shadowy figure—and exploding. Indie had packed the arrowhead with lightning Dust. The shadow had apparently had enough—it dissolved along with the remainder of the explosion, leaving Marigold alone.

Jade spared a glance at the aura readout. Her own aura was holding at just under sixty percent. Aurum was nearly untouched, lucky kitty. Marigold's aura was just barely over half. As Jade watched, the image labeled "Argentum Bracken" decreased by a few more points, Skye's unpredictable, evasive fighting style clearly the perfect counter for him. Indie had taken the most damage of the team from Marigold's attack—her aura was at only twenty-seven percent, but up in the tree she was relatively safe.

Her moment of distraction cost her: while she'd been taking stock of their health, the fox Faunus had drawn her second pistol, attached the two weapons together with a length of chain, and begun swinging them around like a bola. A few blows landed before Jade and Aurum switched to defensive maneuvers, and while they were knocked back, Marigold flung one of her guns toward a nearby tree limb. The chain extended, wrapping around the branch, and the girl flew out of the melee, landing several yards away.

Aurum was on her again in seconds. The two Faunus struggled with each other for a few moments while Jade ran toward them, but before she could join in what could most accurately be called a brawl, the buzzer sounded. Marigold collapsed to the ground, defeated.

That left Argentum, and Skye was handling him just fine on her own. He was swinging his sword at her left and right, but her superior speed meant that he had only landed a handful of strikes. Jade was wondering if she should try to join in anyway when Indie's voice bellowed, "Skye, _move_!"

Skye's blue eyes went wide, but to her credit, she didn't question the soft-spoken archer suddenly yelling out orders. She gave a last slash at the silver-haired boy before diving gracefully out of the way. He had no hope of going after her before an arrow thudded into the ground at his feet.

He stared up at Indie on her perch, lavender eyes wide in disbelief. "You missed."

Indie shook her head. "I never miss." There wasn't an ounce of smugness in her voice; she wasn't gloating, just stating a simple fact. He squinted at her in complete bewilderment for a moment—until a waterspout erupted from the ground, courtesy of the wind and water Dust Indie had loaded into the arrow. His aura had been nearly drained already; it continued to decrease as the swirling water carried him away. The buzzer sounded for elimination by aura level a fraction of a second before he slammed into the barrier.

"Oh, and with that creative Dust use, Team SAIJ will be moving on to the doubles!" Doctor Oobleck announced. "What a spectacular match!"

Professor Scarlatina took over. "We will be having an intermission so our competitors can eat, but please join us back here for the next match in two hours!"

xxxxx

"And for our next matchup…"

Team SAIJ, along with their families, had made it back to the colosseum with more than twenty minutes to spare before the afternoon matches began, and had filled the time chattering away at each other. It was only Doctor Oobleck's announcement of the next fight that put an end to the conversation. Aurum was sure they would have missed it otherwise.

"… Team CROM of Beacon versus Team CTRS of Haven!"

The audience cheered as the two teams took their places in the middle of the arena. Both teams looked confident to varying degrees, with Chiara and Pitch in exaggeratedly relaxed poses. Kage tipped a wink at the opposing team members and said something the monitors didn't catch; Aurum guessed he was flirting indiscriminately with the competition, as was typical. Cerulea smacked him upside the head in response without even looking at him.

As soon as the savanna and urban landscapes were lifted into place, Professor Scarlatina announced "Three… two… one… BEGIN!"

The two teams sprang into action immediately, with Rhoda charging forward to occupy Chiara, and Tanner squaring off against Esme. Pitch took to the air and left Kage skidding to a halt as he charged for her, and Cerulea began chasing Doug through the urban biome as the camouflaged sniper sought the high ground.

Aurum could tell immediately that their classmates were probably going to lose. Pitch was hovering over the arena, avoiding the bullets Kage was shooting at her. The wolf Faunus used a baton that extended into a six-foot staff, but Pitch was well out of his range.

Chiara, her hair glowing gold, had summoned a few fireballs and lobbed them at Rhoda… _so_ _ **that's**_ _what "not overusing her semblance" looks like…_ The pink-haired fighter was attempting to deflect them off her shield and only managing to block two out of three. Chiara hadn't even started using her weapon yet.

Doug had shaken Cerulea off his tail and perched on a ledge in the urban biome in a manner not too different from Indie in the tree earlier, shooting at her. So far, she had dodged them all, and was returning fire, but it looked like a stalemate for the moment.

Tanner and Esme were going head-to-head in close combat. The iguana Faunus was slowing, though, and as Aurum watched, went flying into the arena barrier after a powerful kick from Tanner.

The green-haired Faunus shook the kinks out of her neck as she watched her teammates continue getting demolished. Pitch was moving her swords around without touching them, somehow; she kept using them to slash at Kage from her place in the air. The wolf Faunus was clearly getting frustrated. His image was projected up onto the screens just in time to catch the words, "—down here and fight me for real!" His ever-present cocky grin had been replaced with a look of rage. The airborne girl only shook her head, smirking slightly, as Tanner sank her fists into his kidneys. He made a garbled sound and fell forward, the last of his aura draining away.

Rhoda had gained a brief advantage when she switched to using her weapon's chain whip form, forcing Chiara to back up out of its range. Unfortunately, Chiara was able to toss a few more fireballs at her, forcing the pink-haired fighter to raise her smaller shield to block the damage. She lowered it after the onslaught waned, only for the cameras to zoom in on her shocked expression as Chiara swung her staff in a frenzied motion, catching her in the right arm and forcing her to drop the weapon. Rhoda made a last, desperate attempt to land a kick on the older girl, but Chiara ducked under it. Her staff caught Rhoda behind the knees, knocking her onto her face to the sound of the buzzer.

That left Cerulea, and as the camera zoomed in on her face, she looked more resigned than anything else. Considering the now four-on-one odds, Aurum couldn't blame her. Still, the black-clad Huntress in training raised her khopesh high and charged at Tanner.

The panther Faunus blocked the sword, but missed the granite fist that landed in her gut and launched her across the arena. Even as she hit the barrier, in a fashion not too dissimilar from Esme a few minutes ago, her teammates were on CROM's leader like flies. A few whacks from Chiara and a couple shots from Doug were all it took to knock Cerulea's aura below acceptable levels.

"And that's the match!" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed. "Team CTRS will be moving on to the doubles round!"

xxxxx

Skye looked around in satisfaction as her teammates and their families mobbed a taco stand. Even with their place in the doubles round secured, she didn't want to let her guard down—but that didn't mean she couldn't celebrate the victory. "Taco toast!" Raising her crunchy delicious meal in the air, she declared, "To a well-fought battle!"

Aurum let out a whoop and brought her own taco up. Indie and Jade eyed them dubiously for a moment, then both shrugged simultaneously and joined in. All four of them tapped their hard shells together as their families cheered.

Skye couldn't remember the last time she'd been this hungry. Watching the other matches apparently worked up just as much of an appetite as fighting in one. She wolfed down her food, went back for seconds, and inhaled that too before taking a minute to breathe.

"We need to decide who we're sending to the doubles," she announced.

Her teammates, all mostly finished with their meals, nodded with their mouths full. Aurum was the first to swallow her mouthful and butted in with, "How're we gonna decide?"

Skye tapped her fingers against her mouth, pretending to think. In truth, she'd already decided who to send to the doubles round, but she needed her teammates to agree. Finally she said slowly, "I think we should send Jade and Aurum." Glancing apologetically at Indie, she added, "Their fighting styles are better suited to a tournament battle than yours, and they've got better endurance than I do."

Indie shrugged, unoffended. "It's no secret I'm better from a distance. I agree with your choice."

Aurum broke out into a cheer, then held out her hand for Jade to fist-bump. Jade eyed her Faunus teammate for a moment before obliging.

"Kick some butt out there, kiddos!" Yang cheered.

"You got room for one more?"

Skye recognized the voice, but before she could place it, Indie and Jade had tackled the newcomer, squealing loud enough that Aurum, Aqua, and Blake all winced. Ruby and Yang weren't far behind their daughters.

Ruby let a giggle as she exclaimed, "Qrow, I haven't seen you in ages! When was the last time you were in Patch? Why didn't you come find us before? Did you catch the match?"

"Hey, I can only answer one question at a time," the older Huntsman grumbled. "In order: it's been the better part of a year, I saw you across the stadium but you all _vanished_ before I could join you, and of course I caught the match." He glanced down at the two teenagers flanking him before playfully ruffling their hair with each hand, then turned his attention to Skye and Aurum, who were still seated. "Not up to my usual standards, but hey. You might be _almost_ as good as me." He grinned at them teasingly.

Indie and Jade protested, but he ignored them and plunked himself down at the table. Skye eyed him. She'd met him in person once or twice before, but it had been a while and the picture Mom and Winter had painted of him wasn't flattering. Still, he'd been a top-ranked Huntsman until a broken arm nine years earlier had healed crookedly, preventing him from wielding his mighty scythe and forcing him into retirement.

After he'd finished his own food, he took stock of her. "So, this is the team leader. Another mini Ice Queen."

Skye internally debated whether it would be worth the trouble she'd undoubtedly be in if his cape suddenly burst into flame. In the end, she decided to start with a warning—just one. "Call me 'Ice Queen' one more time and I _will_ set you on fire."

Qrow looked like he was considering another snarky comment anyway, but a moment later was aiming a flirtatious wink in Winter's direction. The Atlesian specialist pointedly ignored him. Skye cringed—she knew he was probably only doing it to mess with Winter, but he was something like twenty years older than her. _So creepy… is he always such a pervert?_

"Hey, congrats on making it through the team rounds!"

The four members of Team AZSR stood there, Saphed being trailed by a woman who bore a considerable resemblance to him, a brown-haired man in a suit, and two girls of about ten or eleven. Both had the same grayish white hair as their older brother, but with green eyes instead of orange; they were obviously twins.

Zelty looked more than a little nervous being this close to Weiss Schnee. Skye rolled her eyes. _He's_ _ **got**_ _to get over that… especially if Mom decides she wants to spend a little time getting to know him while she's here._ Although to be fair, he was much more comfortable around authority figures than he was a year ago.

Rue was staring at the adults' weapons with awe written plainly on her face. Skye wouldn't have put it past her to start fangirling over Crescent Rose at any minute.

Aubergine paid her teammates no attention as she looked over her classmates.

"Thanks!" Indie answered cheerfully. "Good luck on your own match!"

Aubergine grinned. "Aww, thanks! Dunno when it'll be though. Still three days of team rounds left. Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you, and if we see you later on, we won't go easy on you!"

She grinned and shot them a peace sign as her team left. Jade reached over and poked Aurum in the ribs. "I don't hear anything."

Aurum looked totally blank. "What are you listening for—bird calls?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "You still haven't asked her to the dance. Time's running out." She made a tick-tock sound and nudged the Faunus again.

Aurum quickly glanced over at the adults, wondering what they'd think of this, but they were absorbed in a conversation and didn't appear to have heard. She pushed herself up from the table. "You know what? Fine. I'll go ask, right now." She started walking away in the same direction AZSR had gone, back toward Beacon.

Aqua yelled after her, "Hey, sis, wait a minute—" She ignored him. Her date to the dance was on the line here; no _way_ was she about to let her little brother distract her from her goal.

 **That match was** _ **so freaking fun**_ **to write! I've had that planned for ages. In case you were wondering, SAIJ's full team attack is a modified version of the Arachnopod battle from Chapter 13, and the name of it is a not-so-subtle reference to my favorite song by Styx. It's the title track off their 1977 album featuring the amazing Dennis de Young on vocals. Go check it out if you don't know it!**

 **Please leave a review, I love getting feedback. :D**


	24. Enjoying the Festival

**I may have spoken too soon last time when I said I'd still be keeping up a regular update schedule. At this moment, I am unsure if it will be possible. My job is** _ **ridiculously**_ **busy right now, and I have zero time for writing and unreliable web access besides. I do have a couple more chapters finished; however, they have not been edited and time to do so is scarce. If I** _ **do**_ **end up having to take a hiatus, it will likely be a short one (as in, probably only missing one update short). Once the craziness has died down some, I'll be able to start writing more. Thanks so much for your continued support, and I look forward to diving back into the story when my time allows.**

 **I do not own RWBY.**

 **Enjoying the Festival**

Aurum made her way back to the dorm in pursuit of AZSR. She hesitated. _Is this really the best time?_ Then she shook her head to clear it. No, this wasn't the best time, but Jade was right, she couldn't put this off any longer.

Finally finding herself standing in front of AZSR's door, she steeled herself, then knocked. A muffled voice from inside called, "Just a sec!" before the door swung open. Aubergine looked a little surprised to see Aurum standing there—they'd just seen each other a few minutes ago, after all—but she leaned casually against the door frame and crossed her arms. "What's up?"

"Umm… I thought… That is, I wanted to…" Aurum shut her mouth for a solid five seconds, trying to get her thoughts in order, then clenched a fist and blurted out, "Aubergine, will you go to the dance with me?"

Aubergine's eyes went wide. "Oh. _Oh_. Is that… is that why you've been acting so weird lately?"

Aurum nodded mutely.

"Uhh… why don't you come in?" Aubergine stood aside to let the Faunus enter. Aurum was relieved to see that the rest of AZSR was nowhere to be seen.

The pirate girl plopped down on her bed and patted the next one over, inviting Aurum to take a seat. She did so, still painfully aware that Aubergine hadn't given her an actual answer yet.

"The thing is…" Aubergine started, "well, I'm flattered you asked, and honestly it's kind of a relief to find out that's why you've been all weird…" She hesitated.

Aurum could feel a "but" coming.

"But… I already have a date."

 _Wait, what?_ How could Aubergine have a date already? While Aubergine was friendly with everyone, she didn't spend a lot time around anybody but her teammates. Of those, Saphed was dating Rhoda, Zelty was dating Skye, and Rue had admitted a few days earlier that a student from Atlas, one of her old friends, had asked her to the dance.

"Who is it?" _Have I seriously been so wrapped up in trying to figure out how to ask her out that I didn't notice someone else making a move?_

Aubergine suddenly got an unusual expression on her face. If Aurum didn't know better, she'd say that her friend actually looked sheepish. "It's… uh…"

 _Oh no. There is no possible way._ Aurum sighed. "It's my brother, isn't it?"

The sheepish expression quickly turned to startled. "Wha…? How did you know?"

Aurum groaned and leaned to the side so her head was resting against the wall. "It's happened before. In addition to sharing a home, a family, and a birthday, my brother and I also happen to share the same taste in women." She sighed again. "Sometimes it's convenient. Usually it's a pain in the ass. This isn't the first time he's pulled something like this." She slowly pulled herself back up so she was sitting upright again. "Well, I hope you have a good time. I'll, uhh… I'll get going now." She stood up slowly and made her way to the door.

Once out in the hallway, with the door firmly shut behind her, she leaned against the wall and stood there for a moment, contemplating. _Talk about awkward…_ She'd been telling the absolute truth when she'd told Aubergine that this situation had happened before. They'd been fourteen when both of them had developed a crush on the girl who lived down the street… Aurum found herself thinking about Viola for the first time in a while, the pretty neighbor girl that she'd been afraid to talk to—she had an outgoing, friendly personality, but she also had a tendency toward shyness around crushes. Aqua had no such insecurities and it hadn't taken him long to ask her out. Aurum had been furious with him, giving her brother the silent treatment for a solid week afterward.

She stayed still for another moment before crossing the hall to her own team's dorm room, surprised to find tears dripping down her face.

xxxxx

"Another winner!"

The second day of team rounds was in full swing, and SAIJ had elected to go their separate ways to maximize their fun. For Indie, that meant hitting the game booths. With a satisfied smirk, she collected her tickets from the vendor. This was one of her favorite games, and had been ever since she'd come across a kids' version at five years old, in a carnival at school. The concept was simple: little cardboard cutouts of Beowolves and Ursai would pop up from behind cover, and you had to hit them with shuriken. You were awarded points for where on the Grimm you hit, with a possible one hundred points total, and if you hit a civilian cutout, you lost points instead.

"Woo-oo!" Lian cheered from beside her. Indie had elected to wander the festival with Lian and Citrine for the afternoon. The pigtailed mini-Huntress had managed to score ninety-three points on her own round. "I win!"

Citrine hadn't done so well with her own shuriken. She'd only managed to score sixty-four points. But she raised her eyebrows, amused, and replied, "Uh… I don't think so, little sister. You got ninety-three points; Indie got a hundred, so she wins."

Lian scowled. "Indie used her semblance to win, so it doesn't count."

"Hey!" Indie grabbed Lian in a playful headlock. "Are you calling me a cheater, pipsqueak?"

"You said it, not me," Lian retorted.

Indie let the girl go and dramatically fisted her hands on her hips. "All right then, how about a little bet? We go another round, I _don't_ use my semblance—not that I was using it anyway—and loser has to buy the winner dessert later." She raised a single eyebrow in challenge. She _hadn't_ been using her semblance on the shuriken—the target was so close she didn't need to. Later, after she'd schooled the kid, she'd pick out a couple moderately expensive treats for herself and hopefully teach the twelve-year-old a thing or two about making accusations without proof. "Citrine, you can watch the shuriken to make sure. If you see a single white glow around them, Lian wins by forfeit."

Lian narrowed her eyes, then declared, "Deal!" Citrine seemed to consider for a minute, then shrugged and nodded.

"We'll each have another round!" Indie called to the vendor. They each handed over a few Lien and received their ten shuriken.

Her first throw hit the Beowolf directly in the eye. Lian's hit a few millimeters off. Both girls kept tossing the bladed stars at the cartoon-y Grimm shapes, racking up points and actually managing to draw a small crowd of appreciative bystanders, although Indie suspected most of the milling spectators were simply waiting for their turn at the booth.

Citrine had her eyes narrowed in concentration.

Indie's final toss caught the Ursa in the throat, the designated red zone that earned her the full ten points. Lian scowled at her own point total—ninety-six. Indie had gotten a perfect score once again. "There is no way you did that without using your semblance," the dark-haired preteen declared.

Indie shrugged. "Citrine?"

The blonde girl shook her head. "I didn't see anything. I think she beat you this time."

Lian kept glaring—until a new voice broke in. "Sorry, kiddo. Citrine's right—Indie beat you fair and square."

The small girl spun around comically fast and promptly launched herself toward the person. Jaune looked a bit startled by the enthusiastic greeting, but recovered quickly enough to give her a hug. He made as if to playfully ruffle her hair, but Lian batted his hand away. "What makes you so sure?"

"I can sense aura better than most, you know that," Jaune answered. "And I can one hundred percent promise you that Indie was not using her semblance on the shuriken."

Lian grumbled something unintelligible. Indie smirked at her. "So, I think I'll have a nice cheesecake after dinner tonight. You don't mind, right?"

The younger girl couldn't contain her annoyance any longer. "Oh, fuck you!"

Indie raised her eyebrows. "You would be totally grounded if you'd said that at home."

"No I wouldn't," Lian muttered.

Citrine glanced at Indie out of the corner of her eye. "No, she wouldn't. Mom and Dad don't care about bad language. If she'd said it at school it'd be a different story."

Indie rolled her eyes and let the subject drop. Turning to Jaune, she asked, "So did you see our first matchup?" She was sure her excitement showed on her face.

Jaune grinned at her. "Sure did! Onscreen, though—I'd only just gotten to Beacon when I saw you. Pretty impressive, the way you all destroyed an older team. Hey, listen. I saw a group setting up for live chess a couple rows over. Wanna go watch it with me?"

Lian nodded vehemently. Indie considered it for a moment. Sure, she liked to _play_ chess, but watching it? Not so fun. On the other hand, _live_ chess involved real weapons, trash talk, and even some mock fights. She finally nodded decisively. "Sounds cool, if I can actually participate."

"Sure thing!" Jaune exclaimed. He sounded like a little kid. "Let's go!"

xxxxx

Skye noticed Zelty's hands shaking as he lifted his teacup. She supposed it wasn't _completely_ unwarranted; he was, after all, sitting directly across the small table from Weiss Schnee, the head of the Schnee Dust Company—and perhaps more to the point, his girlfriend's mother. While Skye had introduced her mother to her boyfriend before, this was the first time they had spent any time together, just the three of them. She was pretty sure she knew what was coming next. _Interrogation in three… two… one…_

Weiss took one sip of her tea before setting the cup down, fixing her gaze on the musician. "So. Why don't you tell me something about yourself." It was very clearly not a question.

"Uh…" Zelty faltered for a moment. "What do you know already?"

Weiss considered. "Your name is Zelty Serpentina, you're from Atlas, you are a second-year on Team AZSR." She paused. "And you play the flute. Ren didn't give me too many details—I understand he took your team on a mission last year. Skye has told me next to nothing." She fixed her daughter with a meaningful glance.

Skye got it. Really, she did; she should have told her mom more about her first boyfriend.

"Well…" he hesitated a bit too long. Weiss gave him a measured glance before speaking again.

"How about you start by telling me about your family?"

Zelty flinched. "Definitely not."

Weiss arched one elegant eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because my family is a bunch of pathetic lowlifes and I don't want you to judge me based on them." Skye was _shocked_ at how steady his voice was while delivering that line.

"Hmmph." Weiss snorted. "You certainly don't need to worry about _that_ of all things. Given everything _my_ family has done and everything _I_ did to break free of them, judging someone else based on their own family would be the pinnacle of hypocrisy, now wouldn't it? However…" She met his eyes directly. "If you really feel that way, let's start with something else. Why don't you tell me how you ended up at Beacon?"

"Uh, okay." Zelty clearly felt more comfortable with this topic. He considered for a moment, then started, "When I was fourteen, I decided to get a job after school so I wouldn't have to hear my parents yelling at each other. The job I ended up with was at a forge, repairing weapons. Mostly military grade, but a few Huntsmen would come in now and then. My boss was a retired Huntsman, and before long he was giving me fighting lessons in the back of the shop." He stopped.

Weiss considered him for a long moment without saying anything, then motioned for him to continue.

"My parents divorced when I was fifteen, but I told my father I was making good money so he wouldn't make me quit. I started thinking about enrolling in combat school—I'd considered it before, but that was when I really started taking it seriously. Pretty soon I was creating my knives in the forge, with my boss coaching me on what exactly to do. I… I asked if he'd be able to sponsor my training. He said he would, even after I said I'd rather go to Beacon instead of Atlas. He graduated from Atlas and he doesn't like how it's being run these days." He paused again, briefly this time, before continuing, "I liked the idea of having an entire ocean between me and my parents. My father flipped out when I showed him my acceptance, but I definitely don't regret it."

That wasn't the whole story, Skye knew. His parents had essentially disowned him for enrolling at Beacon, which he had been planning for, but it had still been difficult for him to make that final decision. He had admitted to her, privately, that he considered his mentor from the forge his family more than his actual parents. Weiss looked a little startled at the story, though. Skye guessed her mother was a little in shock at how similar her own circumstances were to what Zelty had just described. Finally she shook her head a bit, a small smile on her face. "I'm impressed. Not everybody has the courage to break free of a situation like that. Is your mentor attending the tournament? I would very much like to meet him. What's his name?"

Zelty shook his head. "No, he hates all the complications the festival brings with it. Increased Grimm attacks, and lousy security, not to mention he _really_ doesn't like being away from his forge. His name is Holly Fords; I don't know if you've heard of him."

Weiss nodded. "We've never met, but I know him by reputation. Now tell me, will you be moving on to the doubles round if your team makes it through? You're certainly very talented."

Zelty stared for a moment, seemingly thrown off by the sudden change of subject, then shrugged. "No, we're sending Aubergine and Saphed. I have the least training out of my team, and Rue is better at fighting Grimm than other people. It was really the most logical choice."

Skye was privately relieved that her mother had moved away from more personal topics. The conversation was now fully centered on the tournament once again. Weiss had been drawn into the speculation of who the eight finalists would be, and she and Zelty were debating whether or not the competition would be as entertaining in the doubles round as it had been for the teams. Zelty looked much happier with this than the previous line of questioning; he was using his hands animatedly to demonstrate a number of fighting techniques that different competitors utilized frequently, while Weiss looked on admiringly and offered her own input on some of them. Skye tuned back into the conversation when she heard her own name.

"… Skye won't be moving on to the doubles either," Weiss answered some unheard question.

"So?" Skye replied. "Aurum and Jade are better suited to a tournament fight than me. They're much more proficient in hand-to-hand combat, and we came here to _win_."

"Aubergine won't let you do that easily," Zelty countered, grinning. Skye was pleased to see that he'd finally let his guard down around her mother.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Getting ahead of yourself much? You still need to get through the team round first."

Weiss attempted to hide a smile behind her hand and failed. She didn't get the chance to say anything, though, before a new voice cheerfully interrupted. "That's the idea! Don't let 'em beat you!"

Nora was standing with her hands on her hips, making a dramatic pose. Skye giggled at the ridiculous picture the pink Huntress made. "We won't let anyone beat us unless they're better than us."

"Good enough!" Nora declared. "Is anyone up for a spar? Everyone keeps saying no when I ask 'em." She made a face. "Wimps."

Skye rolled her eyes. "It couldn't have anything to do with the grenade launcher you're carrying. You know, the one that weighs more than you do."

Weiss shrugged. "I suppose it could be fun. But first… where's the rest of your entourage?"

"Um… Ren is out talking with Glynda about something; Melano was comparing college details with Aqua, last I saw; and Jaune texted me a while ago saying he was with Lian, Citrine, and Indie playing live chess," Nora rattled off. Skye raised her eyebrows, impressed with Nora's attention to detail.

Weiss stood and began heading for the practice courts. Nora followed, a literal bounce in her step. Skye fell into step behind them, until she noticed that her boyfriend had stayed where he was. "You coming?"

Zelty shook his head. "No, I should go catch up with Rue. Her parents weren't able to make here for the festival, so we've been hanging out a lot."

Skye shrugged her shoulders. "Okay then. If I don't see you before then, good luck in your match!"

xxxxx

Jade was the only member of her team in the stands when RUST was called into the arena to face off against Team Burgundy from Atlas. It promised to be a good show: BGDI were in their third year like RUST, which meant they'd probably be pretty closely matched. Yang, seated next to Jade, was cheering wildly for Beacon in support of her home team.

The ice and geyser field biomes were selected, and Doctor Oobleck counted down. "Three, two, one… BEGIN!"

Jade knew full well that Team RUST were no slouches. She'd observed multiple times that Scarletta was an extremely skilled swordswoman, only rarely using Dust to enhance her attacks and not obviously using her semblance. The redheaded knight also had an unusually durable aura. Sure enough, as soon as the countdown was finished, Scarletta bounded forward and engaged in sword-to-sword combat against the leader of BGDI, a boy named Kelley with a shock of bright green hair and a large, two-handed sword.

As expected, Usiku was blading through the geyser field, skillfully evading both the occasional eruption of boiling water and his two pursuers. Tanso and Fuchsia had teamed up to try to overpower the last opponent, a weedy-looking girl with glasses who wielded her customized kusarigama weapons as though they were part of her own body. Even as Jade watched, the girl—the aura readouts listed her as Iris—wrapped one of her chains around Tanso and flung him into the barrier, eliminating him from the match. The audience winced collectively.

"Ooh!" exclaimed Doctor Oobleck from the announcer's box. "One down already!"

"Yes, and RUST has clearly been thrown off by the early elimination!" Professor Scarlatina continued enthusiastically. "Four on three at this point could spell disaster for them!"

Usiku was having better luck amid the geysers. He'd already tricked both of his opponents into running into each other twice, and had used some wind Dust to redirect a geyser into one of their faces, lowering her aura enough that another hit would likely eliminate her. The other fight was going firmly in Scarletta's favor: Kelley's aura was nearly half of hers. As Usiku swerved into the fray, his two pursuers ended up colliding with their team leader hard enough to knock one of them into elimination levels. The buzzer sounded, and before the others could shake off their dazed state, Scarletta and Usiku were on them. Kelley only lasted a few more seconds, with his teammate going down soon after.

That left Iris, who had managed to knock Fuchsia's aura down enough to eliminate her and was looking for a new fight. Scarletta and Usiku met her head on, getting in close to dodge her attempts to repeat the technique she'd used against Tanso. They couldn't exactly afford to hesitate, Jade mused. Iris had already demonstrated her ability to take on two fighters at once, and she'd singlehandedly eliminated half of RUST without breaking a sweat. Based on the image projected above, she wasn't even winded.

Scarletta didn't look intimidated, though. She gave a discreet hand signal to Usiku, who nodded and prepared his nunchaku. The skater ducked behind their opponent, and while Iris was distracted by parrying a strike from Scarletta, lunged in and delivered a vicious series of strikes to Iris's back. She collapsed, finally, as the buzzer went off again.

Yang stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled obnoxiously. Jade leaned away from her while a handful of people seated nearby shot the blonde woman dirty looks, which she either didn't notice or chose to ignore.

"And despite BGDI's early advantage, Team RUST has managed to rally and take victory!" Doctor Oobleck announced. "What an exciting comeback!"

"That concludes the matches for today." Professor Scarlatina picked up from there. "Please make your way to the airship docks, and enjoy the festival!"

Jade cheered loudly for her friends, along with the rest of the spectators. It was a lot of fun watching the fights with her giant family clustered around, but she liked this better, just her and her mom spending time together… as long as she paid no attention to the thousands of other festival-goers packed in around her.

 **That was fun to write. Please leave a review, it will make me so happy! :D**


	25. Fun and Games and Deadly Weapons

**Welp. My summer job is over. In theory, that means I'll have more time to work on this, right? But surprise! Guess who has jury duty! And my fall semester begins much too soon for my liking. *sigh* So much for summer vacation. I will do my absolute best to keep up my every-other-week updates, continuing to update on Fridays. If something happens to cut down productivity, I'll make a note of it in the a/n. Though truthfully, I can't see that happening—writing is an** _ **amazing**_ **stress-reliever, so I'll probably be doing a lot of it once classes are back in full swing.**

 **I own nothing except my own original characters. Everything else belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Fun and Games and Deadly Weapons**

"White pawn seven moves to square E-six, taking black knight two!"

Indie made the single diagonal step that allowed her to move to the proper space, cocking her bow and carefully drawing back the string. Her opponent, Garnet of Team MGNA, carefully sheathed her sword on the back of her shield. The sword had an unusual crown design on the crossguard, so that when the weapons were placed in their current configuration, they resembled her emblem. Garnet gave a mock bow before exiting the chessboard. Indie let a chuckle escape as she gently lowered the bowstring back to its un-drawn state—she'd learned the hard way to _never_ dry-fire the bow.

Jaune cheered from the sidelines, with Citrine applauding from her perch on the fence post beside him. She'd volunteered to play as a pawn, but she'd been the first piece to be taken after the game began.

Lian, from her own square, was poking at her neighbor with her own weapon, a cylinder that narrowed at one end, giving it the rough size and shape of a bottle of wine. Indie was itching to get a better look at it, but Lian insisted that it wasn't done yet and Indie was just going to have to wait. The boy kept shoving the weapon away from him, muttering "Quit it!" under his breath, to no avail.

"Black rook two moves to square B-four," the chess master for the black side countered.

Lian pouted briefly as the student she'd been harassing moved several spaces to the left, putting him firmly out of her range. Indie had played chess against the younger girl before and knew that she was surprisingly good at the game, despite her difficulty in holding still for very long, and was betting that Lian would move on quickly.

"White bishop one moves to square C-two," the white chess master declared. Indie shuffled a step to the side to let the other student pass her. She vaguely recognized the girl as being from a first-year team from Atlas that had been thoroughly trounced yesterday by a team from Shade.

"Black bishop one moves to square B-seven, taking white rook one."

"Awww…" Lian complained. She'd barely gotten the chance to play yet, and her expression betrayed her disappointment more clearly than any words. Indie shot her a warning look, but Lian was already vacating her square, while the girl aiming her rifle moved forward take her spot.

"White pawn seven moves to square F-six."

Indie advanced again. She hadn't been bothered about playing as a pawn, but it meant she could only move short distances and that was a little annoying.

"Black knight one moves to square F-six, taking white pawn seven."

Well, that hadn't lasted long. Indie shrugged and, getting into it, allowed the boy capturing her piece to gently poke her with his saber before exiting the board. She joined Jaune, Lian, and Citrine by the fence to keep watching the game.

It was actually pretty fun. Playing chess was one of Indie's fondest memories from growing up, even though she hadn't had many opponents. Neither of her parents cared for the game, Jade was terrible at it, and Aurum had never had the patience to learn how to play at all. Skye had been the only one who could ever offer her a challenge, but they hadn't played since starting at Beacon.

It soon became clear that the white side had the advantage. Lian, sitting on Jaune's shoulders, wasn't shy about cheering or booing when appropriate, but Indie and Citrine restricted themselves to polite applause for the most part.

"White queen moves to square F-three. Checkmate!" the white chess master declared.

The black chess master on the other side of the field bowed to her opponent in acknowledgement of his victory. The remaining pieces on the board quickly left as another game was set up, and most of the crowd dispersed.

"Think we should wander around a bit more?" Jaune suggested.

Lian bounced up and down on her toes, nodding emphatically.

Indie glanced over her shoulder at the chessboard. _Maybe I should try to be one of the chess masters next time…_

xxxxx

Skye absolutely loved spending time with her mother. Sure, she was nineteen now, but some of her fondest memories from growing up were of Weiss leaving the office early on Fridays, and letting Skye decide how she wanted to spend the afternoon. Sometimes they would go shopping, sometimes they would take a walk through one of the public parks, and sometimes they would simply choose a random activity to do together. One time they'd taken a flower-arranging class. Another time they'd gone to a play being held at one of the public primary schools near SDC headquarters. No matter what they'd done, though, Skye had printed out pictures and carefully collected them in a photo album to remind her of good times.

Weiss had her arm slung around Skye's shoulders as they rode the shuttle up to Amity Colosseum to watch the day's matches. Today was the last day of team rounds, and tomorrow would be a day for people to enjoy the other attractions the festival had to offer, before the doubles rounds began the next day. Skye was perfectly content to let her mom baby her for a little bit; they so rarely had the time for it anymore. It wasn't until they were disembarking at the stadium that Weiss remarked, "I'm surprised you didn't invite Zelty to spend the day with us."

Skye fell into step next to her mom. "I _did_. But AZSR hasn't fought a match yet, which means it'll be today. So they're sticking close together, at least until their match is over."

"Hm." Weiss made a noncommittal sound before continuing. "That's a shame. I've enjoyed getting to know him these last couple days."

"Wait, really?" Skye honestly hadn't been sure her mother approved of her romantic choice, but her next words removed any doubt.

"Oh, certainly. He seems very sweet." Weiss paused a moment. "If a little overly timid. Is he always that nervous?"

"Only around adults," Skye answered quickly. "Especially authority figures. Which you definitely are."

"Hmmph. Well, I suppose that's all right then," Weiss pretended to be upset, but Skye could see right through her.

"But… you like him?"

"Oh, yes, I like him a lot," Weiss answered. "Truly, I don't see how he could possibly be related to Karmin Serpentina, but I certainly can't blame him for wanting a better life for himself. The academies are some of the best places for that." She let a smile slip. "It's a bit of a shame Flynt couldn't be here—we could have ourselves a private concert from our boys."

Skye couldn't help giggling. They finally found a pair of decent seats, and quickly sat, before anyone else could snag them. The first match of the day wasn't scheduled to begin for another half hour, so most of the people in the stands were conversing with each other.

"Hey Mom?" Skye wasn't sure what had prompted this thought, but now that it had entered her head… "Can I have a match with you?"

Weiss raised one eyebrow, considering, before nodding slowly. "I suppose so. I'd like to see for myself how much progress you've made. Not today, though. Later on, all right? Maybe between the doubles and singles rounds, so you can cheer for your friends."

Skye nodded happily. She hadn't had the chance to fight her mother in almost two years, since before she started at Beacon. It would be a whole new ball game, now; she could count on her hands how many times she'd beaten Weiss over the years, and still have fingers left over, but after two years of attending an upper combat academy… Things might very well turn out differently this time.

Doctor Oobleck's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Welcome back to the live broadcast of the Fifty-second Vytal Tournament on the last day of the team rounds! Our first match today will be… Team Petunia of Atlas versus Team AZSR of Beacon!"

Skye gave a cheer as the two teams entered the arena, giggling as her boyfriend spun his daggers in his hand. She hoped he'd put on a good show for them all…

xxxxx

Jade yawned as she turned over in her bed, letting herself wake up slowly. She was generally an early riser, not staying in bed much past dawn, but today she'd managed to sleep in for a change. A minute later, she bolted upright, the realization suddenly hitting her.

 _Today's the first day of the doubles round!_

Quickly peeking over at the other set of bunks, she noted that Aurum and Skye were both gone, but the light snores she could hear indicated that Indie was still asleep.

Slipping out of bed, the green-haired Huntress silently snatched up her cousin's scroll and checked the alarm setting. It was set to go off in another ten minutes, so she shrugged and, after turning the volume up to maximum, placed it directly next to Indie's pillow. There was no way her teammate would be able to sleep through that.

After throwing on her combat outfit and brushing her hair, Jade headed for the dining hall. She grabbed a bagel and slapped some peanut butter on it before heading out to the fairgrounds on her way to the colosseum. She wanted to discuss some possible strategies with Aurum before their match.

…Or not, as it turned out.

"The first doubles round matchup will be… Chiara and Pitch of Haven versus Jade and Aurum of Beacon!"

 _Seriously?!_

Jade swore under her breath as she wove her way through the seating toward the arena. So much for discussing strategy; she hadn't even bumped into a single member of her family yet today. (Indie being still asleep didn't count.) They wouldn't miss her fight, would they?

Aurum was already waiting for her down below. Chiara and Pitch stood across the central arena, Chiara cocking her hip confidently and Pitch idly swinging her swords. Jade carefully evaluated them. They were tough—she'd seen how they'd taken down CROM without breaking a sweat. _Pitch likes to mount aerial attacks… she can move her swords without touching them… and Chiara can create fireballs with her semblance._

The biome roulette appeared, selecting an ice field, a rainforest, a grassy meadow, and a barren, rocky landscape. Pitch's expression suddenly grew disgusted, but a moment later she'd schooled her face back to a more neutral display. Jade wondered why… was it something to do with her fighting style? She didn't have long to think about it.

"Three, two, one… BEGIN!"

As expected, Pitch immediately unfolded her wings and took to the air, hovering a solid twenty feet over her teammate. Chiara dashed forward, swinging her staff, but Aurum managed to block it with Aurora Blaze's shield form. Jade aimed toward Pitch and began shooting at the flying Faunus, cursing internally at the way the older student was dodging each and every shot with a cocky grin on her face.

 _This gives "fighting from the high ground" a whole new meaning…_

A glance to her left showed that Aurum and Chiara were still clashing in the rocky field. Neither one could gain the advantage, and both of their auras were still holding strong. Jade blocked one of Pitch's flying swords before deciding to make a run for the rainforest. The trees would give her some more cover, and she doubted that Pitch could follow her without landing and coming after her on foot. It was a holding tactic at best, but at the moment, she couldn't come up with anything better.

xxxxx

Chiara swung her staff again, landing another hit that Aurum was able to block with her fans. She parried, advanced, and returned the attack. Neither of them had been able to land more than a few solid strikes yet, but even the back-and-forth blocking was nicking away at their auras. She couldn't see her teammate anymore, but _not being able_ to see Jade was nothing unusual. Pitch was circling the arena warily, searching for her opponent.

 _This can't last long…_

Aurum made as if to aim a slash at Chiara's legs. The older student blocked it, as she'd hoped. Aurum feinted to the left and ducked underneath the staff before activating her semblance and dashing for the rainforest. She could lose herself in the foliage while she tried to make a plan. Scampering up the nearest tree, she edged out onto a limb and leaped for the next branch (she wasn't _quite_ as good at this trick as Indie was, but it was well within her abilities. She was a cat Faunus, after all—climbing came naturally to her) and began hopping through the branches, before a flash of purple on the ground caught her attention.

Jade was standing close to the base of one trunk, peeking out as if to evaluate her options. She'd ditched her jacket, and with only her green clothing remaining, she was camouflaged almost perfectly with minimal effort. The violet that Aurum had spotted from above was the grips of her weapons. She swung out onto a branch and vaulted in next to her teammate, deciding not to mention that the scars on Jade's shoulder were on full display.

"It appears that Jade Xiao Long and Aurum Belladonna have _both_ retreated to the trees! They won't be able to win like that!"

Jade let out a muffled curse at Doctor Oobleck's words. Aurum knew they only had a few seconds before their opponents came looking for them, now that he'd given away their position. She narrowed her eyes. "What can you tell me?"

"I can't land a single hit on her," Jade replied immediately. "She just keeps dodging my shots in midair. How about you?"

"Chiara and me are pretty evenly matched," Aurum mused. "I think she's still got something else up her sleeve, though."

"But do you have a plan?"

Surprisingly, Aurum did. It had come to her in the brief moments she'd been tree-hopping, but it seemed plausible enough to give it a try. "I have an idea for how to handle Pitch. You take Chiara; she's good, but throwing her off by switching can't hurt."

"Any ideas? She's still two years older than us, and I definitely don't wanna find myself on the wrong end of her semblance.

A devious glint formed in Aurum's golden eyes. "She can't hit what she can't see."

Jade's eyes widened in understanding, right before she vanished. Aurum raced out of the forest, making a beeline for the ice field. She couldn't use her semblance for this—being able to spot a certain detail was too important—so she wasn't surprised when she heard the metallic _zhing_ of Pitch's swords through the air. She ducked and dodged, but couldn't escape them all and took a couple nasty blows to her back.

Her eyes flicked around the ice field, searching for a certain formation. These ice crystals weren't uniform—they were designed to appear natural, so there were several different kinds of ice… were the ones that came up from the ground stalagmites or stalactites? Aurum couldn't remember, and it didn't matter. She found one that suited her needs.

Carefully inserting a fire Dust crystal into the chamber on Aurora Blaze, she activated it and whirled around, slashing at an ice stala-whatever. A chunk broke off, about two feet long, pointed on one end but rounded on the other where the heat from her weapon had melted it.

"Ooh, looks like Miss Xiao Long and Miss Belladonna have swapped opponents!" Professor Scarlatina announced over the microphone.

"But will their strategy work?" Doctor Oobleck replied. Aurum guessed that was a rhetorical question. "I don't think we'll have to wait long to find out!"

Aurum spared a glance at Jade, who seemed to be doing somewhat better against Chiara as she flickered in and out of view. At least, the green-haired girl had only lost another few slivers of her aura, while Chiara's had taken a more noticeable dip. Pitch had diverted her attention for a moment, slashing Jade across the back with one of her swords. Aurum gave her teammate a silent apology, but it did mean that her target was distracted for a moment.

 _Good._ The Faunus tossed her ice chunk toward an incline, and while Pitch's attention was still on Jade and Chiara, activated her semblance and dashed toward it, landing on the chunk and whizzing forward. Her momentum carried her up the incline and into the air. _Just like the half-pipe at the skate park…_

Her aim was not quite perfect: instead of landing on the other Faunus's back like she'd planned, Aurum ended up tackling the older girl around the waist. Still, it was a minor thing and didn't really affect her plan at all.

Pitch began careening wildly to the side, out of control. Aurum had guessed—correctly, as it turned out—that Pitch couldn't fly under her own power. She'd taken general wildlife studies at Signal, and one of the things she recalled was that birds had hollow bones, which reduced their weight enough to allow them to fly. But Pitch had the same density as a human, meaning she _couldn't_ have hollow bones. So some kind of aid was necessary to allow her to take flight like this.

As soon as she'd made that realization, Aurum's mind had flashed to the bracelets that Pitch wore. The purple crystals _had_ to be gravity Dust, and she was willing to bet that they were _juuuust_ powerful enough to reduce Pitch's weight and let her lift off. Which meant that all Aurum had to do was add enough weight that the crystals couldn't support it, and the raven Faunus would come crashing down.

 _Now!_

Aurum let go of Pitch, tucking and rolling to minimize the damage to her aura. The attempt wasn't entirely successful, as one of Pitch's flailing legs caught her in the chin, but her work here was done. She didn't see what happened with her face buried in her arms, but she hit the ground at the exact same time the buzzer went off.

"Ooh, that had to hurt!" Professor Scarlatina commented. Aurum could hear the cringe in her voice. "Pitch Sanders is eliminated by ring out after a very unorthodox strategy by Aurum Belladonna. The match is down to two on one!"

xxxxx

Jade kept swinging at Chiara. The matchup should have been in her favor; she had two weapons to Chiara's one, and she still had about two-thirds of her aura and Chiara was only at about half. But the blonde wasn't going down without a fight. They'd been trading friendly insults for the first couple minutes, but those had quickly devolved into grunts of effort as they swung at each other.

Chiara attempted another strike, this one aimed at Jade's legs that would probably have tripped her if she hadn't leapt into a back handspring just in time. Chiara's eyes narrowed, and with a calculating expression on her face, quickly twisted her hands around the middle of her staff.

Two beams of pale blue light shot out of the weapon, collecting at each end and coalescing into long blades, transforming the fairly basic staff into a double-bladed naginata. Jade had a split second to think _Hard light Dust_ before the altered weapon swung at her face. She ducked out of the way and quickly unloaded a handful of bullets at the blonde, which had the desired effect… but too slow.

With the hard-light additions now in effect, Chiara renewed her attack in a frenzy, with a slight change to her fighting style. Despite trying to adjust, it was all Jade could do to counter the slashes that were now coming from every side. _At least she's not using her semblance…_

No sooner had _that_ though entered Jade's mind when Chiara's eyes turned gold and her hair started glowing. The bespectacled Huntress had just enough time to attach a cartridge of water Dust to Lu Xise before her opponent raised one hand above her head, and half a dozen fireballs formed in midair. She quickly activated the Dust with her aura and began spinning, letting the water wash over both the flaming orbs and the girl wielding them, dousing them all.

Chiara made a growling sound in the back of her throat and began attacking with her weapon again. Jade parried the attacks, but a few seconds in ducked low to the ground and turned invisible, letting Chiara's strike pass harmlessly over her head. She'd seen something her opponent hadn't, and a split second later, Chiara went flying. She landed in the ice field and slid a short distance before coming to a halt and groaning weakly.

Aurum materialized in the older student's place, grinning madly after just delivering that powerful shoulder check. Unfortunately, it had come with a cost. The buzzer sounded a split second later, and Aurum's holographic image was X-ed out, her aura down to twelve percent.

Not down for the count yet, Chiara leaped to her feet and came swinging at Jade again, howling like a banshee before unleashing another fury of slashes. The desperation in her eyes—still not back to their normal coloration after her use of her semblance—was evident. But Jade wasn't about to let her teammate's ploy go to waste. She quickly flicked the catch on Lu Xise, switching to her reserve ammo supply. She didn't use these particular bullets very often—too expensive—but they were all she had left, and under the circumstances…

Jade immediately aimed both barrels of her weapons at her opponent, unleashing a pair of lightning Dust-enhanced bullets. Chiara couldn't hope to block both of them, and the bullets detonated a split second later. With Chiara still soaked from Jade's earlier use of water Dust, the attack was far more powerful than normal. A single bullet from each weapon was sufficient to knock Chiara's aura into the red as Jade slowly lowered her arms to her sides, breathing heavily.

"The match has ended in favor of Beacon!" Professor Scarlatina announced. "What a stunning conclusion to the first doubles round matchup!"

"Indeed, our next matchup will be hard pressed to follow that performance," Doctor Oobleck mused. "Please join us for it at two o'clock this afternoon, and take some time before then to enjoy the food and entertainment that the festival has to offer!"

The four students exited the arena in silence, still too high from the adrenaline rush to really be able to converse. They all paused at the intersection beneath the stadium, where Chiara made as if to go left, but Pitch hung back a moment. Chiara glanced at her teammate, appearing completely bemused. Finally, the raven Faunus stalked over to Aurum, and without a word, planted a kiss squarely on her lips. It wasn't much of a kiss, just a quick peck, but Aurum looked completely floored. Pitch lazily shrugged one wing in the air. "So. You wanna go to the dance with me?"

Aurum was still standing there, gaping, until Jade stepped on her foot. "Yow!" The cat Faunus gave her teammate a dirty look, but finally seemed to shake off her bewilderment and answer, "S-sure, I'd like that."

"Good, See you then!" Pitch turned and followed after her team leader, who had quickly averted her gaze after realizing she'd been staring. Aurum turned to Jade, apparently still in shock.

"Did that _really_ just happen?"

 **Heheh, I've been waiting for that fight since I first introduced Team CTRS. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Also, Aurum's improvised hoverboard was an ice stalagmite because it was growing up from the ground ("G" for ground). Stalactites are the ones that grow down from the ceiling ("C" for ceiling). My inner geology nerd is showing...**

 **Pleeeease leave me a review, this one took a long time to get right and I want to know if you liked it!**


	26. The Time Between

**I had to scramble to get this one finished in time. Between packing stuff for school, moving back into my dorm, and the first week of classes, it was INSANITY! The good kind, but still. Not a lot of time for writing.**

 **Before I start, I wanted to include a shout-out to TheGoose2012. He gave Legacies a nice plug in his last chapter update, so I decided to return the favor and recommend In RWBY's Shadow, an OC-centric story featuring another team in RWBY's year. I've only made it to Chapter 14 at this point, but his characters are well created, and interactions between them are deep, with some serious angst and issues to work out. I'm really enjoying it!**

 **I do not own RWBY.**

 **The Time Between**

The second day of doubles matches started off as exciting as the first. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't going so well for Beacon.

"That grass fire is not making things easy for our competitors!" Doctor Oobleck commented.

Down below, in the arena, Aubergine and Saphed were going head to head against a pair of students from Atlas. Both students of Team AZSR were in the yellow, and their opponents of Team Shale—one a tall, lanky boy with a sword, the other a redheaded girl who fought hand-to-hand—were clearly holding the advantage.

"Miss Marin and Mister Achamba are stellar students, but they are clearly struggling against such talented opponents," Professor Scarlatina agreed. "However, the outcome of this match is still anyone's guess!"

Jade cringed as Aubergine took a kick to the cheek, snapping her head to the side. From inside the giant family mishmash where she was sitting, she could see a woman seated a few rows ahead doing the same thing. Although she couldn't see the woman's face, her curly purple hair was a good indication that she was Aubergine's mother, who probably didn't appreciate seeing her daughter get her butt handed to her.

The first part of the fight had been primarily in the grassland biome, where neither side had been able to gain the advantage, but after the sword-wielding boy—whose image labeled him as Carnelian—had used a fire-based attack and set the grass on fire in the process, it had split, with one pair in the ice field and the other in a swampy marsh. Saphed was doing his best to handle the redhead, but her unarmed combat skills were obviously superior to his. The aura readout gave his opponent's name as Lilya, and showed that while Saphed was doing some damage to her, mostly with his pistols at long range, his own aura level put him dangerously close to elimination.

Carnelian was keeping Aubergine busy, dealing plenty of damage even though he had only one weapon to her two. Her body was crackling with the purple lightning that was her semblance, enhancing her reflexes and allowing her to dodge attacks more easily, deliver stronger blows, and strike with deadly accuracy. She wasn't in danger of elimination, not yet… but at that moment the buzzer went off, indicating that Saphed was out of the match.

Sure enough, a moment later, Lilya made a fantastic leap and joined the fight between Carnelian and Aubergine. The two-on-one odds did what the earlier fight could not, and after a few minutes Aubergine collapsed to the ground, accompanied by the sound of the buzzer.

Jade quickly stuffed her fingers in her ears in case Mom tried whistling again. It didn't happen; evidently only a Beacon victory warranted that.

"And Team SHAL moves on to the singles!" Professor Scarlatina announced. "Our next match will be this afternoon. Please exit the colosseum in an orderly fashion."

The large group made no attempt to head for the shuttles. Jade wondered what they were waiting for, until it dawned on her that with so many people, finding room for all of them at once would be tricky. Sure enough, after the flood of spectators heading for the airship had slowed to a trickle, Taiyang remarked that they would probably be safe to go now. "We need to find ourselves some food!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Sure, Dad. Whatever you say," but got to her feet.

It was slow going, making their way to the docking bay, but Jade privately agreed with the unspoken decision to wait—it would have been even slower if they'd gone right away and gotten crushed by the mass of people all going the same direction. The odds of them all managing to stay together would have been minimal, and although they would be going their separate ways once they got back to the ground, it was much better to be able to see each other off properly for the day, and make plans to meet back up for the afternoon match.

"Hey, before we all go…"

Every eye in the group turned to look at Ruby, who grinned. "Who's going to the singles?"

Weiss leaned forward. "An excellent question."

"That would be me." The attention shifted from Ruby to Aurum, who had gone a little pink in the cheeks at the admission.

Skye nodded. "It was a unanimous decision. As far as weaponry, Jade and Aurum are almost even—Jade has long-range options but Aurum has blades—so what it really came down to was semblance."

Jade glanced back toward the arena. "Invisibility is one thing in a match against more than one opponent, and when there's terrain to give me more cover, but in a small octagon, against just one person? It's next to useless." She kept her more _selfish_ reason for not wanting to move forward to herself: not wanting all those eyes on her. If it had been up to her, she wouldn't even have entered the doubles round; Skye would have done just as well against Chiara and Pitch, maybe better. Even Indie; with her semblance she would have been able to handle Pitch's aerial assault. But Skye had made the executive decision herself, and as team leader, her word was final.

Yang raised one eyebrow knowingly but didn't say anything, which Jade was immensely grateful for. Even more so a minute later, when she found herself pulled into a squeeze by her mom. To the others, it wouldn't look like anything other than casual affection, but Jade found it reassuring.

xxxxx

Indie wandered around the various tents and booths, her parents trailing behind her. They were letting her take the lead, although Ruby kept getting distracted by weapons and Ilia was eyeing the food vendors. She'd managed to ditch Taiyang and Qrow by suggesting they spend the day with Yang and Jade, which the two veteran Huntsmen thankfully hadn't questioned.

There were any number of festivities going on around them. Indie ignored them all—she'd been planning to use the Vytal Festival as an opportunity for something more personal for a while now. She hadn't breathed a word of her plan to anyone yet, not even her teammates. She'd told herself that her parents deserved to know first, and that had worked to stave off her nervousness for a while, but now her parents were here. And her team had decided to split up for the day to spend some time with their individual families. Her time was up. Who knew when she'd get another chance? No, she couldn't put it off any longer.

Finally, a lull in the conversation gave her the opportunity she was waiting for. Before she could lose her nerve (her stomach was doing major flip-flops), she blurted out, "Can we go someplace a little quieter to talk for a bit?"

Ruby and Ilia traded a glance for a moment before Ruby replied, "Sure! We can go back to the main Beacon campus, I'm sure it's less crowded there."

She was right: the main campus of Beacon wasn't deserted, but there were only a few people clumped together here and there. Ilia led the way to a picnic table that was a little separated from the rest and they all took their seats.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Ruby asked. Her voice was still as cheerful as ever, but it sounded forced, and there was clear apprehension in her silver eyes. Ilia looked just as concerned, but had laid one hand comfortingly on Ruby's shoulder as she regarded their daughter. "It sounded important."

Indie had never been good at beating around the bush, so she just took a deep breath and went for it. "How would you feel if I said I wanted to find out more about my birth parents?"

Both of her parents widened their eyes in unison, their surprise nearly tangible. Indie fought down the ridiculous urge to laugh—there was _nothing_ funny about the situation! A half-hysterical giggle did manage to escape her a moment later, when Ruby wrapped leaned forward and pulled her into a hug, but the rest were smothered as Indie rested her head on her mom's caped shoulder.

"Sweetie, if… if that's something you want to do…" Ilia paused, seeming to weigh her words, before continuing, "… then we'll support you in it. We knew you might want to try someday, and we can help you with it if you'd like us to."

"Although…" Ruby offered slowly, without letting up on the hug one bit, "I think maybe Nora would be more helpful."

Indie carefully wiggled out from Ruby's arms. "Why Nora?"

"She never knew her family," Ruby answered, looking sad. "I know she's talked about trying to find out who they were, but I dunno if she's ever actually gone through with it. If she _has_ , it's not something she's ever mentioned to us."

Ilia scooted over to join in the group hug. "Even if she never did follow through with that, I remember Peony trying to look up her own history a few years ago. She did her research, and I think she did end up finding out a lot. You could ask her to help you, I suppose, but she's in Atlas and very busy with college right now."

Indie thought it over. Peony was nineteen, the same age as she was, and had been adopted when she was five. If she _had_ succeeded in finding out anything about her birth parents, Indie wasn't aware of it, but at the very least Peony wouldn't mind sharing some of her methods. And even if Nora _hadn't_ ever looked into her own family, Indie would bet good money on the fact that she'd helped out her daughter with her own search.

Yes, she would ask them both… but not now. Today was a day for family, the family she had.

xxxxx

Weiss took her place across from Skye in the small arena, readying her sword. The two combatants bowed to each other, and at Winter's "Begin!" Weiss flew forward, catching Skye in the shoulder. Skye ducked low and came back up, landing a long slash to her mother's torso, before performing a graceful backflip and landing on a glyph, out of range.

Skye knew full well she was at a disadvantage. Weiss had decades worth of experience that she herself was lacking. For all of that, it was a closer fight than she had anticipated. The two of them had very similar fighting styles, using glyphs frequently to counter or dodge, but not identical. Skye's Gladiola was a saber, designed for slashing rather than stabbing like a rapier such as her mother's Myrtenaster, and that allowed for some variation.

Another glyph appeared behind Weiss, a yellow one. Skye had barely registered its formation when Weiss suddenly sped up—although Skye knew it was actually her who had slowed down—and delivered a series of rapid-fire stabbing attacks.

Her body stinging despite her aura, Skye managed to summon a shaky glyph of her own under Weiss, this one gravity. The relentless assault ceased, and Skye pressed her newfound advantage, landing several slashes before retreating. Weiss moved in again, but now Skye was on the offensive, leaping between glyphs and delivering fire-Dust enhanced strikes with increasing amounts of damage each time. Weiss couldn't hope to block all of them, although she was able to deflect most of the worst ones, but she quickly threw another wall of glyphs up to try and regain the advantage.

Weiss's defense did the trick… at least as far as blocking attacks. Skye saw her chance. In the blink of an eye, she had summoned a speed glyph underneath herself and advanced. She thrust the point of her saber into the tiny opening that Weiss had left herself, twisted, and yanked. Myrtenaster sailed out of Weiss's grip, ricocheting off the wall and coming to a rest behind Skye.

Before Weiss could even register the loss of her weapon, Skye's blade was right between her eyes.

The heiress held Gladiola steady, as she waited to see what her mother would do. While disarming an opponent wasn't necessarily a guarantee of victory, it _was_ considered good practice to forfeit if you lost hold of your weapon in a friendly spar like this. Weiss went cross-eyed looking down the blade before declaring, in an even, measured tone, "I yield."

Skye slowly lowered her sword, getting her breath back, before sliding the weapon back into its place at her waist.

Applause from outside the arena made them both turn their heads as one. Winter was giving one of her rare smiles, aiming it directly at Skye. "Very well fought. You have improved immensely since I saw you last. Keep it up."

Skye glowed under the compliment, spare though it was. Winter didn't give out praise like that unless it was earned, and even then, it was a rare thing. She'd looked up to Winter _so much_ growing up, even going so far as to model her Gladiola after Winter's saber, but she'd know for ages that she didn't want to join the military. The strict lifestyle just wouldn't have suited her; becoming a Huntress was much more up her alley.

Weiss crossed the arena to retrieve her sword, examining it briefly for damage. She took a few experimental swings, eventually deciding that her weapon was no worse off for having gotten tossed unceremoniously into a wall and returning it to its holster. Without warning, she pulled Skye into a hug. "Winter is right, you know. You have improved tremendously, thanks to all your training. However…" She pulled back to look into her daughter's eyes. "You still haven't mastered time dilation. Anything you want to tell me about that?"

Skye hesitated, wondering if she should try to make up something or just admit the truth. In the moment it took her to weigh her options, Weiss raised her eyebrows expectantly. With a sigh, Skye decided it was safer to go with the truth.

"I don't like using lightning. It… it scares me, being so unpredictable."

Weiss only raised one brow further, more in a _that's-not-the-whole-story-is-it_ kind of way than an _I-call-bullshit_ way. "This from the girl who enjoys literally playing with fire?"

"It's not the same!" Skye protested. "Fire is more containable, easier to control, and the damage potential if it gets out of hand is much lower."

"Be that as it may…" Winter broke in, "You should not be neglecting any part of your ability. Mastery of your semblance could mean the difference between life and death for the people under your protection."

Weiss nodded firmly in agreement. "It's not unusual for you to be having difficulty mastering a particular aspect of your semblance. I struggled with summoning. Winter had issues with gravity. But we kept trying. You _will_ master time dilation, but only if you practice. Next time I see you—after the festival, I mean—I want to see you attempt it again, and I expect to see improvement."

Skye grudgingly nodded. It was far from being an enticing prospect, but she knew they were right: not being completely comfortable with a part of her semblance could get her or others killed someday. And if Jade could climb a rope in the gym every day to try and conquer her fear of heights, playing with lightning was the least she could do to become the best Huntress she could be.

xxxxx

Aurum settled into her bunk with a bowl of popcorn, a bottle of soda, and her scroll. This was going to be a marathon session. She had her pillow fluffed up behind her, her quilt pulled over her lap, and a notepad and pencil situated next to her. She sank down into the warmth and pulled open her scroll.

 _Right. Let's get down to some serious research._

Popcorn aside, she _was_ doing serious research. The doubles rounds were over, and the eight competitors who would be facing off against each other in the singles had been selected. Aurum was taking the opportunity to watch the videos of previous matches and learn everything she could about her possible opponents, trying to gain the upper hand. She was the only Beacon student to make it to the singles, which was unfortunate—it would have meant need for less research if one of her potential opponents was also a classmate. _Oh well…_

Realistically, Aurum knew that the odds weren't stacked in her favor. While the eight finalists ranged from first-years to fourth-years, it was almost always a third- or fourth-year who was crowned Tournament Champion. On the one hand, it wasn't _un_ common for younger students to beat older ones, but it wasn't exactly _common_ , either. On the other hand, her team had already been pitted against _two_ older teams and won. Either way, she was gonna give it her all.

 _Who's first…_

She picked a name at random. Roan Fletcher of Shade Academy, leader of Team Fade. He was a third-year, and had an axe as his primary weapon. Frowning in concentration, she tapped the first video of his team match.

Roan was a strategic fighter, with an eye for when his opponent was off balance. He fought using a double-bladed axe at close range, and it also extended into a halberd-style weapon for longer range opponents. Physically, he wasn't all that intimidating. He was pretty short, maybe only five seven or eight, but the antlers sprouting from his dark brown hair added an extra eight inches to his height. His attire was simple: a forest green vest that barely covered his torso, a pair of black cargo shorts, and sturdy brown boots. The only extra adornment was the arrow emblem on the pocket of his shorts.

Aurum tossed a handful of popcorn in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully as she considered Roan. The video ended and she paused before picking up her pen to take down some notes.

He wasn't very fast, from what she could tell. If she was pitted against him, it would probably be a good idea to rely on her speed to keep him from gaining the advantage. And since his fighting style relied on a distance of at least three feet to swing his axe, then she could gain an advantage by keeping the fight up close and personal.

 _All right then… one down. Who's next?_

The next competitor turned out to be a familiar face. Aurum hadn't caught _every_ match so far, but this girl, Lilya Adamantine, was from Team SHAL, the Atlas team that had defeated Aubergine and Saphed in the doubles round. The girl's long hair was red-orange, with a white hibiscus flower tucked into it. Her combat outfit practically screamed her noble Atlesian birth: a sleeveless, calf-length dress in pale gray, with slits reaching halfway up her thighs on both sides for greater range of movement. A silver armband encircled her left bicep. The only thing that didn't quite fit the image was the pair of practical charcoal-colored ankle boots she wore. _She probably knows Skye… her family clearly runs in the same circle as the Schnees…_ There was something printed on the back of her dress, presumably her emblem, but the video was too blurry to Aurum to make it out.

This would be a tough opponent to beat, Aurum mused. Lilya exclusively fought hand to hand, only utilizing a simple set of brass knuckles to increase her striking power. Aurum paused the video on a closeup shot of Lilya's hands, and more to the point, her weapons. _I wonder if those brass knuckles work with Dust…_ None of the videos indicated one way or the other, but it was probably a good idea to plan for the worst in this case. She scribbled down a few more notes before moving on.

The next video featured a young woman with a ponytail an eye-smarting shade of lime green. Phyllis Hudie was from Haven, the leader of Team Porcelain. The rest of her outfit was muted in comparison to her hair; the simple black tank top and baggy, ivy-patterned shorts were offset by the cream-colored vest that draped over her shoulders and fell almost to her knees. Her shoes were a pair of sandals with two straps each, an odd style choice. Aurum paused the video on a close-up of her face, highlighting a pair of clear, focused brown eyes and a serious expression.

Phyllis's weapon of choice was a long leather whip, very old-school. She had a tendency to plant her feet solidly, with her back to a wall or other obstacle. Aurum chewed on her lip, considering. With the way the arena was set up for singles matches, there would be no way for Phyllis to keep her back against a wall. It was pretty unlikely that she didn't know that, so why would her team elect to send her? She must have a trick or two up her sleeve. _Be nice to know what that is_ _ **before**_ _the matches start…_

Aurum's musing was interrupted by a text alert on her scroll. It was from her mom. _If we don't manage to see you before your first singles match tomorrow, we wanted to wish you the best of luck!_

Another text popped up a moment later. _Love you, XOXO._ Aurum smiled at the hugs and kisses before turning back to her project. She still had four more potential opponents to scope out…

 **The finalists have been selected… The singles rounds begin next chapter. As for the new characters here: "lilya" comes from "lilja" ("lily" in Icelandic, meant to reference the orange color of daylilies). Her last name is an old word for diamond. "Phyllis" is a Greek name that refers to leaves or foliage, and "hudie" is "butterfly" in Chinese.**

 **In other news: RWBY Volume 7 is scheduled to begin on November second. I'm a little annoyed that they keep pushing the new volumes back further every year, but I've decided I'm just gonna consider it an early birthday present. I've seen the art that's been released (loving Weiss and Blake's new hairstyles!) and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Atlas. Over the summer I read After the Fall and also The Rise of Kyoshi, which were both excellent; can't wait for more.**

 **Reviews make me happy, please leave one!**


	27. The Singles Round Begins

**I realized the other day that this fic has now been going on for over a year, which I can't believe. I didn't exactly do the math on it; if I** _ **had**_ **, I would have realized that if I post a new chapter every two weeks, it'll take two years to finish a 60-chapter fic. (Oops.) Oh well, I'm still having plenty of fun with it. Started writing up an outline for the third arc the other day. But anyway, let's get to it!**

 **I do not own anything you recognize from RWBY.**

 **The Singles Round Begins**

"And now…" Doctor Oobleck's voice boomed out of the stadium speakers, "The moment you've all been waiting for… the VYTAL TOURNAMENT SINGLES ROUND!"

Aurum stood in the middle of the arena, along with the other seven students who had made it to the singles matches: two from Atlas, two from Shade, and three from Haven. Her fingers anxiously tapped out a rhythm on her thighs; she wasn't usually nervous about fighting in front of crowds, but she'd never fought in front of a crowd _this_ size before. Her eyes flicked back and forth, briefly catching Roan's green eyes. The buck Faunus of Team FHDE gave her a quick wink and a thumbs up.

Her gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than was strictly necessary. Usually girls did it for her more than guys did, but there were always exceptions… No harm in appreciating the view. She hadn't realized he had an earring earlier, a simple gold hoop in his right ear.

A sudden flash of silver off to the side drew her attention toward Phyllis. The leader of Team PSLN was flicking her fingers against her whip handle; the silver flash had been the sunlight catching on the butterfly pendant she wore.

In a last-ditch attempt to center herself, Aurum shifted her eyes to the side, sizing up her immediate neighbors.

On her left was one of the representatives from Haven. Maalea Sparks of Team Shimmer was a fourth-year who used an oversized sword as his weapon. He had a very distinctive hairstyle, white on the left and black on the right, cut to his chin. She hadn't realized from the videos, but he had to be at least six feet tall, and he appeared even taller and skinnier due to the jacket and skinny jeans he was wearing; both were jet-black. The jacket, worn over a dark red t-shirt, was covered in patches advertising bands that Aurum had never heard of. He was a lemur Faunus, as evidenced by the fluffy, black-and-white tail lazily coiling through the air behind him. A simple starburst emblem that resembled an eight-bladed shuriken was stitched onto his jeans pocket, and his black boots were almost as shiny as her fans.

She squinted upward at his face. Red eyes. They'd looked brown in her videos. He also had an _extremely_ pasty complexion, only a couple shades darker than the white half of his hair, which Aurum hadn't thought was possible for anybody whose last name wasn't Schnee. Although she supposed that could also have something to do with all the black he wore.

Aurum flicked her gaze to the right, but her musing was interrupted by the announcements continuing.

"Our final eight competitors have been selected," Professor Scarlatina took over the microphone. "All four quarterfinal matches will be held today. Each match will be randomly decided, and the winner will move on to the semifinals tomorrow. Our first match will be…"

The randomization wheel began spinning. Aurum's eyes fastened on the quickly-moving images, hoping it would land on her name and simultaneously praying it wouldn't. It finally slowed, revealing…

"Lilya Adamantine of Atlas versus Maalea Sparks of Haven!"

The redheaded girl from Team SHAL and the leader of Team SHMR took their places in the center of the arena while Aurum followed the other five toward the front row seating area reserved for finalists and their teams.

"Three, two, one… BEGIN!"

xxxxx

Aurum wasn't called up for the second match either. She was even twitchier than usual; the adrenaline was still keeping her alert. The two-hour lunch break didn't help her nervousness. She usually had an enormous appetite, but today she couldn't manage more than two slices of pizza and a half an iced coffee. If it hadn't been for her family, and more specifically her teammates, engaging her in conversation and keeping her mind off the match, she wasn't sure she would have made it. As she filed back into the center of the arena, she realized she couldn't even remember anything they'd talked about. Hopefully it wasn't anything too important.

Only four students were left. This match would be the last with no time to prepare, since the two remaining competitors would face off against each other by default. Her fingers returned to tapping against her legs as the wheel began spinning.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next match will be…"

The wheel clicked into place, showing a pair of names and faces. One of them was her own.

"Khrys Briar of Shade versus Aurum Belladonna of Beacon!"

She couldn't make out the cheering from her own family amid the general noise of the colosseum, but she knew perfectly well they were all screaming with excitement. Stepping forward into the center of the arena, she faced her opponent as the other two finalists made their way back to their seats.

Khrys Briar of Team Mocha was a first-year, the only one who'd made it this far, whose weapon of choice was both a mallet and a sickle. He had short blond hair and green eyes. His combat outfit was typical for a desert dweller: a medium blue t-shirt, fingerless gray gloves, and a pair of jeans that were very frayed at the hem over a pair of worn gray sneakers. The only parts of his attire that didn't fit his scruffy image were the greaves on both legs and the pauldron on his left shoulder, the latter of which had the emblem of a thorny vine etched into the metal. The armor had a beautiful metallic blue sheen that it most definitely hadn't had in Aurum's videos. She suspected he'd stayed up late buffing it until it shone.

She barely registered the center arena being raised into the air as Doctor Oobleck counted down for the match. "BEGIN!"

Khrys lunged forward, swinging his mallet at her face. His technique was a bit sloppy; Aurum could see the attack coming a mile away, and had ducked under the swing before he'd even made it two steps. She swung her left fan at his hand, blocking the swing, and slashed downward at his now-exposed wrist. To his credit, he barely flinched as he returned the strike with the hand-sized sickle in his other hand. Aurum felt it connect with her shoulder, not quite fast enough to dodge. Neither of their attacks had done much damage; their aura levels were still nearly even.

Aurum soon fell into the rhythm of the match. It was a bit like fighting Ruby and Nora at the same time, she decided, if both were armed with miniature versions of their weapons. Khrys also didn't have the decades of experience that they did. In fact, Aurum mused, folding up her right fan and jabbing it into her opponent's gut, resulting in a satisfying grunt, his technique was very unrefined. Most of his ability seemed to be the result of natural talent, rather than formal training—not surprising for a Vacuo native. She parried a swing of the sickle and gave him a _thwack_ to the neck with the still-folded fan, before attaching the other back to its holder on her wrist and aiming an uppercut at his chin.

Khrys was a fun opponent, she decided. His lack of formal training left him more openings that she was able to take advantage of—she took a nasty knock to her thigh from the mallet—but it also made him less predictable. And even though he was a year younger—she planted one folded fan into his back and released all the rounds stored within simultaneously—he was keeping pace with her, using the momentum from her shots to launch himself into a handspring. Dimly, she heard the roar of the crowd.

Using up half her ammo supply all at once maybe wasn't the smartest move, but it was a calculated risk. She'd do more damage releasing them at point-blank range than over even a slight distance. It was worth it, though, to see the sharp dip in his aura—he was down to thirty-one percent. And she still had another trick up her sleeve…

Her own aura still at just over forty percent, Aurum debated activating the Dust she'd loaded into her weapons that morning. Aurora Blaze's upgrade was still recent, and she _really_ wanted to try it out in a real fight… but no. She was ahead right now, and it would be better to keep a surprise or two handy for when she really needed it.

The split second of hesitation cost her. Khrys came swinging at her again, this time with a pickaxe. _Where the_ _ **hell**_ _did that come from?!_ She hadn't realized his weapons could be combined, and took a couple nasty blows from him before sinking to her knees to avoid his next swing. Being so low offered her another opportunity, though: she lashed out with one leg, catching him by the ankle, and sent him crashing down to land on his back in an ungraceful heap.

She spared a fraction of a second to glance at the aura meter. Khrys was dangerously close to elimination at sixteen percent, but his surprise pickaxe attack had knocked her own aura down to twenty-eight percent. She hadn't won this, not yet… but one more well-placed strike would change that.

Feinting toward his right, she aimed a jab at his unarmored shoulder. He clearly saw it coming, and blocked—but the parry had thrown him off balance. Aurum took her chance and swept his legs out from under him, at the same time aiming a strike that caught him in the ribs and connected with a satisfying, meaty _thwack_. Khrys flew backward, landing in a heap on the stadium floor again, but this time accompanied by the buzzer.

Aurum glanced up at the aura readout. The image labeled "Khrys Briar" was down to eight percent, while the image labeled "Aurum Belladonna" was still at twenty-one percent. _I… did it?_

The cheering from the crowd reached her ears a moment later. _I… I really did it!_

xxxxx

Aurum impatiently waved off Aqua and Jaune's attempts to restore her aura. "I just need food. Like now." Ruby offered her a couple squashed cookies from her pocket, which Aurum inhaled in seconds and began looking around for more. Weiss diplomatically suggested they head down to the fairgrounds, since they no longer needed to be there for the next match. A good idea, in Jade's opinion, since Aurum looked hungry enough to start chewing on the stadium walls.

Most of the spectators stayed up in the stadium to watch the day's last match, which meant the noodle stand they were looking for was nearly deserted. Ruby cheered when it came into view. This place had enormous portion sizes, intended for competitors with big appetites. Yang and Nora fondly reminisced about a similar vendor that they'd loved during their own tournament days.

Aurum made a snatch at the tuna-infused bowl of noodles that was handed across the counter. "Foooood. Gimme gimme!" Blake scolded her for demanding instead of asking, but Aurum had already dug in. Jade broke out into full-on laughter at the way her teammate was shoving giant forkfuls of noodles into her mouth. Aurum was too intent on stuffing her face to notice—or if she did, she was too hungry to care.

Aqua, Yang, Ruby, and Indie hadn't even gotten their own orders before Aurum finished. She sighed in satisfaction, pushing the empty bowl away from her. "I needed that. I _so_ needed that."

"You'll make yourself sick, eating that much that fast," Blake informed her daughter, over her own tuna-filled noodles.

Ruby was quick to jump to Aurum's defense. "Hey, combat burns a lot of calories. Especially if you've got a speed semblance like mine! Besides, she ate almost nothing at lunch."

Blake eyed Ruby. "I'd find that argument more convincing if Aurum had actually _used_ her semblance during that fight." Ruby looked about to argue the point when Blake continued, "But she _didn't_ eat much lunch, you're right."

Aqua set down his own bowl next to his sister. "I do not know how you can eat that stinky fish."

"Shut up, stinky fish is delicious," Aurum retorted. "You're a disgrace to cats everywhere."

"Says the swim team captain," Aqua snarked back.

Blake choked on her own tuna.

Based on Yang's expression, Jade could tell her mom was highly amused by the exchange. Luckily, another family sitting down next to the giant mass of people provided a distraction. Rhoda and Cole were seated next to a couple that were obviously their parents, given that the man's hazel eyes were identical to both siblings. Mrs. Nyx, clearly noticing the resemblance between Blake and Aurum, leaned over to speak to the Faunus woman. "You must be so proud of your daughter."

Blake took a moment to compose herself before replying, "Oh, yes. We all are," indicating the gathered extended family members.

Mrs. Nyx nodded in agreement. "I was a bit disappointed that Cole and Rhoda didn't make it past the team rounds, but this team is clearly very talented. I couldn't believe they were able to beat older, more experienced teams so easily!" She turned her attention to Aurum. "Congratulations, dear. I look forward to seeing your next match tomorrow!"

Aurum blushed bright pink at the praise.

Yang had raised one eyebrow skeptically. "I wouldn't say they beat MGNA and CTRS _easily_." Jade shook her head in agreement as Yang continued, "I'm willing to bet they've got more fighting experience than almost any other team here, but they've got their own struggles same as anyone else."

Mrs. Nyx looked confused for a moment. "How can you be so sure they have more experience?"

She was clearly not expecting nearly every person associated with SAIJ to burst into raucous laughter. Jade could barely keep the hilarity from forming tears in her eyes while Rhoda shook her head with a smile, already knowing the gist of the story. Her parents and brother just stared blankly.

Weiss finally calmed down enough to wipe the tears from her eyes and reply, "We are a Huntsman family, and all of them showed an aptitude for combat at a young age." She smiled proudly at Skye and continued, "We did wait for them to show an interest before starting any training, but it didn't take long for that. My Skye was only nineteen months old when I found her cuddling up to Crescent Rose during a visit. I started planning out how to start training her that day." She eyed Ruby. "I still cannot believe you left a giant sniper scythe out where a child could find it."

Ruby threw her hands in the air. "We didn't have Indie yet; baby-proofing the house wasn't exactly on the radar!" She patted said sniper scythe attached to her back. "We weren't sure she'd follow in our footsteps and become a Huntress, but when she was five a Beowolf chased her up a tree in our yard. I heard her yelling for help, and when I got there, I found her chucking twigs at it from about twenty feet up, not scared at all. I knew she'd make a great Huntress after that."

Indie turned faintly pink as a number of family members had a good chuckle at the image of a five-year-old fearlessly throwing twigs at a Grimm from her perch in a tree.

Yang had smirked before returning the conversation to the topic at hand. "I live on the road. If I wanted my daughter with me, and I did, I knew I had to teach her how to take care of herself. It's a matter of survival, pure and simple." She grinned cheekily at Jade. "And you exceeded my wildest expectations, kiddo."

Jade felt her face getting hot at the praise. Luckily her darker complexion hid it from the others.

Blake frowned at her empty bowl. "Aurum was four when she picked up a stick and started trying to imitate my training regimen. She kept it up, too. It was a couple years before we decided to unlock her aura though."

Lian, in the middle of a walkover several yards away, yelled back toward the table, "My first toys were replicas of my parents' weapons!" She punctuated the statement by landing gracefully on her feet, then running back to the table to finish eating.

Weiss eyed the young girl. "Lian, you are _far_ too much like your mother."

"Thank you!" Nora and Lian chorused, in unison; the two proceeded to gleefully high five each other. Jade smothered a snort as Weiss protested that that had _not_ been a compliment.

Citrine rolled her eyes. "Come on, little sister; let's go hit the practice yard."

xxxxx

After the remaining quarterfinal match had taken place and their families had left for the evening, Skye insisted on an early night for her team. This was mostly due to the fact that Aurum, despite her insistence that she was fine, had started to nod off over her salad. Jade had pulled a marker out of her pocket and made as if to start drawing on the sleepy girl's face, but Skye was having none of that.

"Seriously?! She's going to appear on the feeds tomorrow, on the most-watched event in all of Remnant, and you want her to do that with stupid pictures drawn on her face?" Skye was aware of her voice becoming a little shrill, but really. Her partner liked pranks, but this was _so_ not the time.

Jade shrugged and put the marker away. Skye hoped her next words wouldn't piss off her teammate to the point of waking up with marker all over her own face tomorrow. "Aurum's performance in the semifinals—and maybe even the finals—reflect on all of us as her teammates, as well as on Beacon Academy itself. We need to look and act like adults here."

"All right, I _get_ it," Jade grumbled. "It wasn't even permanent. No need to get all bitchy on me."

"Ex _cuse_ me?" Skye drew her sword. "You did _not_ just call me bitchy."

"And what if I did?" Jade shot back, drawing her tonfa. "Gonna start a scene, in the middle of the dining hall?"

Skye was about to retort when something hit her in the back of the head, _hard_. "Yow!" Jade had yelped in pain at nearly the same moment. Both turned around simultaneously to find Indie glaring at them, an arrow in each hand. Neither of them had their auras activated right now, so Indie's whacks would definitely leave bruises later.

"I seriously cannot believe you both." When had Indie gotten so assertive? "Our teammate has made it into the semifinals of the biggest competition _in the world_ , and instead of supporting her, you're sniping at each other over a prank that didn't even happen."

Indie fixed Skye with the full force of her glare for a moment. Skye recoiled; Indie could be _scary_ when she wanted to be intimidating. "You _were_ being a little bitchy. Jade put the marker away; you didn't need to keep yelling at her."

Jade snickered, prompting Indie to turn the glare on her. Skye hadn't realized she was holding her breath and let it out as Indie began lecturing Jade, feeling the tiniest bit relieved that her teammate's wrath had found a new target. "And _you_ shouldn't have tried to mess with Aurum. She's exhausted from her fight today, and she has at least one more tomorrow, maybe two. She _does not_ need the added stress of competing with shit drawn on her face." Indie paused a moment to quickly nudge the cat Faunus. Aurum jerked awake.

"Huh, wha—?"

Indie turned back to Skye and Jade. "We're going back to our room. If you two are gonna fight, please at least _try_ not to kill each other." She carefully pulled her still-mostly-asleep partner's arm around her shoulders and began to half-drag the Faunus away from the table and down the hall toward the dorms.

xxxxx

Indie was silently fuming as she fumbled with her scroll, trying to unlock the door to their room. Her partner was little more than deadweight at this point, with her arm slung over Indie's shoulders. Hopefully Aurum wouldn't remember much if any of her teammates' argument in the morning. Tensions were high right now and tempers were flaring, Indie got that. But still. Skye and Jade had absolutely _no right_ to be snarking at each other, especially when Aurum had just made it to the semifinals of the biggest competition in the world. They should be supporting their teammate, not sniping at each other like this!

Still mentally grumbling about the nerve of _some people_ , Indie finally managed to scan her scroll on the sensor and push the door open. Tossing it onto her bed, she turned and hauled her mostly-unconscious partner into the room.

Once inside, with the door swung shut behind her, she paused to contemplate what to do with the sleepy Faunus. Waking her up to get her into bed seemed a little mean, but there was no way Indie could lift her weight into the top bunk, not by herself. It also didn't seem right to make her sleep on the floor or in a chair. Indie would have given up her own bed for one night, but that came with the same problem as getting Aurum into her own bed. Finally giving a mental shrug, she began hauling Aurum toward Skye's empty bunk. The heiress was just going to have to deal with switching for the night. _Serves her right, after that little display earlier…_

Indie carefully arranged Aurum's limbs until her partner was situated in a semi-comfortable sleeping position, and then pulled Skye's quilt over her. As a last thought, she grabbed Aurum's Ursa plushie, Toby, and tucked it into her arms before tiptoeing over to turn off the light. Using her scroll's flashlight to make her way to her bed, she quickly settled in for the night. As a last thought, she picked her scroll back up and sent Skye a text. _A is taking your bed for the night. youre in hers._ She quickly followed it up with _NO ARGUMENTS._ No way was she going to get woken up by an angry Skye whenever her leader made it back to their room. She was out nearly as soon as her head landed on her pillow.

 **We're now into the singles rounds and it's so exciting! I tried to split up the introduction of the other seven finalists. I introduced three last chapter and two in this one, so there's still two left for next time. "Maalea" is "obsidian" in Hawaiian, which I thought had a really nice sound to it, and "khrys" is a Greek word meaning "gold."**

 **Only three chapters left in this story arc… please leave a review on this one! I'd love to know what you thought of the fight!**


	28. And the Winner Is

**Wheeee! Another chapter up on time!**

 **I do not own RWBY.**

 **And the Winner Is…**

Indie nearly groaned when she woke up to the sound of rain hitting the window. Bad weather certainly wouldn't help her teammates' tempers, and they really didn't need any more reason to snap at each other.

She was startled to look over at the other bunk and realize that Skye and Aurum were still asleep, Aurum snuggled up in Skye's bed and Skye sprawled out on Aurum's. Peeking over the side of her own bunk, Indie was completely bewildered to see that Jade was also still sound asleep. _The hell? What time is it anyway?_

Glancing down at her scroll, she realized it wasn't even that early, but since when was she the first one up? She could understand Aurum still being asleep after yesterday's fight, and Jade slept in occasionally, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd woken up before Skye.

 _Ugh, too early to think about it…_

Despite the leftover tension and the early hour, a hot shower did wonders for Indie's outlook. She was fully dressed in her combat outfit and toweling her short hair dry when she emerged from the bathroom, pleasantly surprised to find that the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to peek through the remaining clouds.

Jade's bed was empty; Indie assumed she'd gone to grab breakfast. Skye quickly claimed the bathroom and the sound of the shower running was soon heard. Aurum was running a brush through her hair as Indie slid her quiver on underneath her hood, and armed herself with Crescent Ranger before turning to her partner.

"I'm heading down to the dining hall. Come with?"

Aurum shook her head, focused on her reflection. "Nah, I'll grab something later."

"'Kay." Indie put her hand on the doorknob, then turned back around. "Hey… if I don't see you again before the matches start… good luck, okay?"

Aurum gave her a quick thumbs-up in thanks. Indie giggled before opening the door and heading for the dining hall.

xxxxx

The clouds had mostly cleared by the time Aurum once again found herself in the arena, listening to the professors' commentary.

"Welcome back to the singles round!" Doctor Oobleck announced. "Our final day of the tournament is off to a grand start! As you can see, we have four competitors left." The spotlight briefly shone on the four finalists before dimming.

Both of the competitors from Shade had been knocked out in the quarterfinals round, along with two of the three Haven students. Aurum met the gaze of Lilya Adamantine, standing across the circle from her. The redheaded girl's storm gray eyes were a bit unsettling, Aurum thought, the way they seemed to be staring into her soul. She fought down a shudder.

"These four will be down to two this afternoon," Professor Scarlatina continued, "and of those, only _one_ will emerge victorious, earning the title of Vytal Tournament Champion!"

The crowd's cheering increased at her words, as the holographic wheel dropped into place, and began spinning faster and faster. It finally slowed, landing on…

"Our first semifinal match will be Aurum Belladonna of Beacon versus Celestina Ulla of Atlas!"

Aurum glanced to her right, where the other Atlesian finalist was moving to the center of the arena. The others were already vacating the stadium.

She sized up her opponent. Celestina Ulla was from Team DSSC, the fourth-year team that had won the tournament's first match against CBLT. She'd also managed to defeat Roan Fletcher in the quarterfinals. The older girl was ethereally beautiful, with long midnight-blue hair that had an unusual silver streak running down the right side. Her eyes were a light shade of… blue? Gray? They were so pale it was hard to tell. She was clad in a short navy one-shoulder dress that looked like it belonged at a club instead of a tournament. The three-inch silver stilettos on her feet only added to that image, and her silver stud earrings and pale pink lipstick rounded it out.

The gorgeous girl had a wakizashi hanging from her belt, along with a scrollwork brooch that formed the shape of an apple. Her incredible beauty was marred, however, by the disdainful sneer she was regarding Aurum with. _Is she really_ _ **that**_ _upset about having to face a younger student?_

Professor Scarlatina counted down the match. "Begin!"

Aurum had barely registered the beginning of the match when Celestina dove at her. _Whoa, fast!_ She blocked it just in time, whipping her left fan around to score a few points worth of damage against Celestina's occupied right arm. The girl's scowl deepened.

Parrying another slash and feeling her own strike be deflected in return, Aurum considered how long the match might go on. With the back-and-forth blocking of attacks, both of their aura levels currently hovered within a couple points of eighty percent. The two of them were nearly evenly matched.

If Celestina's expression had been dismissive before, now it was downright ugly. As she lunged again, swinging her slender blade so rapidly it was a blur in the air, Aurum was completely unprepared for the older student muttering, "Can't believe I have to fight two of you Faunus freaks in a row."

Aurum froze for a split second, allowing Celestina's sword to claim another few points of her aura.

The attack was enough to shake her out of her shock, and a calm haze descended over her. Things were suddenly very simple. Celestina was going to lose. She was going to lose because Aurum was not going to let her win after a comment like that. This had just gotten personal.

Glad she'd been practicing activating her semblance for only a fraction of a second, Aurum did just that and slammed both folded fans directly into Celestina's midsection. The older student grunted loudly on impact, but recovered quickly and aimed another series of slashes toward Aurum, attempting to knock the tessen out of her grip. _No._ Aurum was able to evade the attacks by attaching the weapons to her wrists again and leaping into a back handspring, aiming a kick at her opponent's chin that was unfortunately dodged.

Celestina's scowl was even deeper now. She hissed, "I'm _not_ losing to an animal like you!" as she flicked something on her sword hilt and prepared to attack again. The blade started glowing a light shade of blue, which Aurum recognized as ice Dust just in time to duck out of the way of the swing.

 _I can't believe I thought you were hot._

Releasing her fans from their holders, Aurum turned the dial on each one. Until now, she'd had both pointed straight up, in the designated "neutral" position. Aurum had been planning this upgrade for ages, and had finally gotten around to it right before the festival. Her fans had already had notches for Dust crystal placement, but the new upgrade consisted of hollowing out the bases so they could be filled with powdered Dust. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a try.

The left fan began to glow a bright shade of red-orange as the fire Dust within was activated. The right fan didn't change color, but Aurum felt it cooling in her hand as the other heated up.

With her wind Dust augmenting the fire, Aurum began whirling the fans through the air in front of her. She was making contact with her opponent, and the ice evaporated on impact as Aurum aimed slash after slash at the older student. Celestina was so single-mindedly focused on blocking her offensive rage that she couldn't see what Aurum could: a fiery cyclone forming behind her.

Keeping Celestina's attention on her, Aurum feinted low, taking a swing at the other girl's legs, before straightening her body and shoving her opponent backward. Celestina was off balance from trying to block a low strike and was pushed back, directly into the center of the inferno. Aurum immediately activated her semblance and began running tight circles around the blaze, letting the wind generated by her momentum fan the flames. She kept one eye on the holographic aura meter as she spun, watching Celestina's readout tick steadily downward while the girl tried in vain to escape her fiery prison.

A fire without actual fuel couldn't last very long, though, not even a Dust-generated one. Aurum slowed herself, letting her semblance dissipate. The flames flickered, getting smaller, and were further extinguished when Celestina emerged from the center. She looked far less composed than when the match had started: her dress was scorched and her eyes had a desperate fury in them.

Aurum saw her chance. Not giving Celestina time to recover, Aurum reactivated her semblance and rushed forward. She caught the older student with a palm strike to the sternum, putting the full force of her remaining aura behind the blow. Celestina flew backward. Her body flickered silver for a moment before the shimmer seemed to fizzle out, her aura completely shattered.

Aurum lowered her hands, shaking from the exertion, as the buzzer sounded to indicate Celestina's defeat. She had nothing good to say about that match. If Celestina's only motivation for winning was wanting to see a Faunus lose, then she wasn't going to make a very good Huntress.

Slowly, Aurum turned and walked out of the arena without a word, leaving Celestina lying on the marble floor.

xxxxx

During the intermission, Skye was startled to see that Aurum had only picked up two platefuls of festival food. Her Faunus teammate had a large appetite; this was cause for concern. Aurum was eating it, at least, but her movements were rather mechanical, as though she didn't really see the food in front of her.

Sneakily, Skye reached over the table and swapped her full plate for one of Aurum's empty ones while her teammate was mumbling a rote thanks in response to congratulations. Aurum didn't seem to notice the switch and began to dig in. Skye nodded to herself in satisfaction.

Finally done with her food, Aurum drooped over the table, leaning on the empty plates. "If one more person comes up to congratulate me on winning or wish me luck in the final, I may scream."

It _was_ getting a little obnoxious, Skye thought. Luckily, the next well-wisher was somebody that Aurum would no doubt be happy to see. Skye prodded her teammate to look. Aurum broke into a grin to see Pitch Sanders standing over her.

The victorious Faunus patted the seat next to her, which Aqua had just vacated. Pitch did one better than that: she plunked into the seat and started chattering away, but draped one wing around Aurum in a manner that Skye found somewhat forward, considering they weren't even an official couple at this point. Judging by Aurum's expression, she was thinking along the same lines.

Skye noticed Blake narrowing her eyes at her daughter. Most of the other family members had left to see the festival sights after finishing their food; only Blake, Weiss, Jaune, and Citrine were still at the table along with Skye and Aurum.

Weiss was the one to finally break into the one-sided conversation Pitch was carrying on. "Excuse me, have we been introduced?"

"Oh…" Aurum looked embarrassed. "This is Pitch Sanders; she was one of the competitors we fought against in the doubles round, remember?" There were nods from those present; no doubt the memory of Aurum's unusual strategy against this very raven Faunus was running through their heads at the moment. "We're going to the dance together."

Skye noticed Aurum's deliberate word choice: "We're going to the dance together," not "She's my date to the dance," or some other phrase that implied they were going as more than friends.

Blake didn't look fooled by Aurum's attempt to downplay the situation. Skye guessed there would be a major grilling in her teammate's future—and maybe Pitch's too, if the raven Faunus was serious enough about Aurum to subject herself to the obligatory parental interrogation.

"The final match of the Vytal Tournament will be held at three o'clock," Professor Scarlatina's voice suddenly echoed out of the loudspeaker. "Competitors, please be in the arena by two-forty."

There was a moment of muffled sound, then Doctor Oobleck's took over. "Who will win it all? You don't want to miss this!"

Pitch glanced at her scroll before patting Aurum's hand. "Looks like that's your cue!" She was being deliberately chipper, but it worked. Aurum stood and brushed off her skirt. She made as if to start heading for the airship, but turned back for a moment, hesitating, before shaking her head slightly and walking off, toward the final match of the tournament.

xxxxx

Only two students stood in the arena this time—the final two competitors left in the festival. Aurum stood with her hands pressed flat against her thighs, trying not to show how nervous she was. She'd desperately wanted to ask Pitch for a kiss for luck, and she _would_ have if her mom hadn't been right there, but now she was wishing she'd done it anyway.

For all her competitive spirit, Aurum honestly hadn't thought she'd make it this far. Sure, she was good, and her team was at the top of their class… but the key word there was _team_. They were used to working together, covering each other's weak points and strengthening each other's strong points. Their familiarity with each other had given them an advantage from the beginning. But that didn't translate very well into single combat.

The lights dimmed, and a hush fell over the crowd. A spotlight came on, shining on the two competitors in the middle of the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" Professor Scarlatina intoned, "this is it. The moment you've all be waiting for… the final match of the Vytal Tournament is upon us!"

"Our winner here will be crowned Tournament Champion," Doctor Oobleck continued. "Will it be… Aurum Belladonna of Beacon Academy!"

The crowd began cheering wildly as the spotlight shifted to the side to shine directly on Aurum. She blinked quickly as it fell into her eyes, then on a wild impulse, she threw her fists into the air, which only prompted the cheering to grow louder.

"… Or will it be… Rhus Lumina of Haven Academy!"

The spotlight fell onto the other finalist. Rhus Lumina, leader of Team Lupine, gave a sort of salute, hefting his golden trident high into the air.

Aurum considered him for a moment. She'd noticed earlier that Rhus seemed to have a similar fashion sense as her brother, between his black leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and white t-shirt with royal blue trim. She got the sense that his shaggy, dark pink hair was typically unruly, but that he'd determinedly attempted to make it behave throughout the tournament. His eyes were nearly the same color as Aqua's, too, light turquoise. Really, the only differences were Rhus's light brown complexion, the fact that he wore black leather boots instead of sneakers, and the crystal pendant he wore on a leather cord around his neck. And also the lack of any discernable Faunus traits.

She hadn't been able to get a good look at the emblem on his shirt before, but as she squinted at it now, she could make out what looked like the image of an old-fashioned, upright oil lamp. His weapon was unusual: instead of the three prongs being arranged in a straight line, they were arranged into a triangle shape. The handle clearly had some kind of telescoping mechanism, but other than that, she couldn't see anything about the trident that would account for the odd design.

He was a second-year like her; in the back of her mind she knew that many of the audience members were several Lien lighter right now, not guessing that it would come down to two second-years battling it out for the title.

"THREE… TWO… ONE… **BEGIN!** "

Doctor Oobleck and Professor Scarlatina did the countdown together this time. Aurum felt like they'd cranked the volume on the stadium speakers to the max; there was no way they'd been this loud earlier.

Despite the fight technically having begun, Rhus took a moment to bow formally to Aurum, who respectfully returned the gesture. It wasn't strictly necessary, but showing respect for an opponent was always a crowd-pleaser.

"All right… let's do this." Rhus's words were meant for Aurum alone, and she barely heard them over the roar of the crowd.

He charged at her, swinging his trident like a spear and stabbing toward her midriff—or more accurately, where her midriff had been a moment ago. Aurum had skillfully evaded his attack, ducking to the right and aiming a chop at the hand holding the weapon. Her strike made contact, but his aura only decreased a few points. _Weird… that should have been good for more than that._ She didn't have time to dwell on it, as her opponent rotated his wrist and brought the trident down toward her shoulder. This time it connected.

Her aura absorbed the blow, dropping by a few points. She immediately launched into a counterstrike, aiming at his legs this time. Like before, his aura dipped, but not nearly as much as it should have. Something niggled at the back of her mind…

As Rhus leveled another thrust at her, instead of dodging it, Aurum quickly folded both halves of Aurora Blaze and leapt toward the descending trident, catching it between her two fans. With his weapon effectively trapped for a few seconds, she aimed a kick upward, catching him in the chest. While he let out a grunt, indicating that he'd felt it, once again his aura hadn't dropped as much as it should have.

Something clicked in Aurum's mind. He wasn't dodging her strikes at the last second, or turning to lessen the impact. That last kick had struck him almost dead center, and she'd felt her foot just… stop. It was just a hunch, but… she'd bet good money that his semblance was some kind of impact reduction. _That_ was why none of her attacks were as effective as they should be.

 _No wonder he made it this far; that's an incredibly useful semblance, but it's super subtle._ She quickly reminded herself that her suspicion about his semblance was just that: suspicion. _Wish I had more of a chance to test that theory!_

Rhus jabbed downward again, this time releasing a hail of bullets from the center of his trident. Aurum quickly slapped the two halves of her weapon together into its shield form, deflecting the ammo storm, and without giving him a chance to follow through, feinted a punch toward his shoulder.

The strike landed with far less force than it should have, as she'd expected, but the kick she'd aimed at his knee landed at full power. His aura took a nice dip in response. She narrowed her eyes, calculating; he evidently had to be _aware_ of a blow in order to affect it, so her gamble had worked perfectly. But he probably wouldn't let her get away with a trick like that again.

So she had to get creative… _Okay. Let's see him handle this._ With a "Yah!" Aurum activated her semblance, hurtling directly into her opponent and sending him flying. It hit with the full impact it should have; if his semblance _was_ impact reduction, then she must have been too fast for him to activate it. Less graceful than her usual style, but brute force combined with incredible speed definitely had its place in the combat scene.

Rhus had come dangerously close to being eliminated by ring out after Aurum had literally run into him, but had managed to halt himself by planting his trident into the stadium floor and spinning to bleed off his momentum. Aurum took advantage of his brief moment of distraction by switching her weapons' Dust setting to fire and wind again.

She was not, however, expecting the trident prongs to suddenly bend forward, meeting in the center to form a sort of three-sided pyramid. The head of the weapon began spinning in a circle, creating a whining sound. Aurum pinned her ears at the noise, marveling at the weapon's drill form.

He seemed hesitant to actually move, though. Aurum spared a quick glance at the aura meters, keeping one eye on Rhus just in case he tried to rush her without warning. She was at thirty-two percent, and he was just above her at thirty-five percent.

Aurum was glad for the eye she'd kept on her opponent. He'd evidently thought she was distracted by the readout and decided to take advantage, charging at her with the drill still spinning. Aurum ducked underneath the jab, but still took a nasty hit to her upper arm. She figured it was worth it to try the trapping maneuver she'd used earlier again, and activated the Dust within her weapons at the same time.

The effect of fire Dust at close range, coupled with the wind Dust to increase its power, had _exactly_ the result she'd hoped for. Rhus was quickly enveloped in flames. That didn't stop him from continuing to strike at her. Aurum would block one strike, then add a quick flick of wind before bringing her defense back up. But her movements were starting to show signs of fatigue. She couldn't keep it up much longer…

Dimly, she registered the sound of the buzzer. It wasn't clear whether it was for her or her opponent, and at this point, she didn't really care. All that mattered was that she could stop fighting.

Swaying back and forth on her feet, Aurum finally fell backward, landing heavily on her butt and closing her eyes. She could drift off, right now… except at that moment, something flew into her from behind.

Opening her eyes took _far_ too much effort, but she managed, somehow. The tackle had been Indie, crashing into her partner's back with an enthusiasm that could only have been learned from years of living with Ruby Rose. Skye and Jade were there too, jabbering away about something, but everything was happening much too fast for Aurum to follow.

The ringing in her ears made it all but impossible to hear what her teammates were saying, but Aurum finally registered that they wanted her to look up. Tiredly lifting her eyes, she found the aura meters again. The one labeled "Aurum Belladonna" was at twelve percent, while the other, labeled "Rhus Lumina" was at nine percent. That meant something, something important, but she couldn't figure out what at the moment.

"Good… match…" Rhus croaked out from across the arena. Despite the sweat dripping down his face, he managed a weak smile.

"You… you too," Aurum choked out, still catching her breath.

Indie shoved a water bottle in her partner's face. Aurum took a sip without thinking, then reeled. Somebody had spiked the water with catnip. The flavor was invigorating; she guzzled the whole thing, then lowered the bottle, gasping for breath.

She distantly noticed the other teens surrounding her former opponent. One of them had done the same as Indie, bringing a full bottle of water, which Rhus was in the middle of chugging. Aurum let her eyes flutter closed again…

xxxxx

Jade had never appreciated her semblance so much in her life.

The people on the shuttle had been quick to recognize their new Champion. It was only the admittedly intimidating presence of Skye and Jade, who had planted themselves in front of the Faunus and glared at the passengers, that kept the poor girl from being mobbed while Indie propped her up.

Jade had activated her semblance on her entire team as soon as they'd touched down. The fairgrounds were still packed with festival-goers, and trying to sneak four invisible people past without bumping into anyone proved frustratingly difficult.

Making it to the Beacon student dorm was much easier. The campus was nearly deserted except for students, but Jade didn't let the invisibility drop until they were all standing in front of their door.

"Gahh…" Aurum nearly face-planted trying to walk across the room, but managed to flop limply onto Skye's bunk. "If I'd known that winning the tournament would make everyone want a piece of me, I woulda thrown the fight."

"No you wouldn't," Indie answered immediately. "You like winning too much."

None of them could make out Aurum's next words, since her face was buried in her pillow.

Jade frowned. "Our classmates are gonna be coming by to offer their congratulations all night, aren't they." It wasn't a question.

As if to prove her point, a knock sounded at the door. Indie scowled at it. "Go away!"

Skye eyed her sideways. "While I certainly agree with the sentiment, the problem is now they know we're in here. We should go somewhere else and hide out for a while."

Jade twisted her mouth in thought. She'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but… "I think I know someplace we can go."

 **I honestly wasn't sure about having Aurum flat-out** _ **win**_ **the Vytal Tournament. Sure, she's talented, as are her teammates, but they're still only halfway through Beacon. Then I remembered that in actual canon RWBY, a large percentage of the finalists were first-years. I decided that if that many younger students are good enough to make it to the singles round, it suddenly seemed far less OP to have a second-year win the whole thing.**

 **As for the last two finalists introduced in this chapter: "ulla" is Irish Gaelic for "apple." I tried to find something somewhat easy to pronounce. "Rhus" is the genus name for the sumac plant. It has lovely pinkish-red flowers and its leaves turn the same color in the fall.**

 **This wraps up the tournament. I'm honestly a little tired of writing fight scenes, so I'm gonna try to take it down a notch for a while and focus on some more character interaction. But please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	29. Drawing to a Close

**Hit a couple milestones last chapter: over 60 reviews total, and also making it over 100k words! I wanted to take a moment to thank everybody who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story, and remind you that you are wonderful people who deserve ALL the hugs and chocolate!**

 **I do not own RWBY; I'm just having some fun with the universe.**

 **Drawing to a Close**

It had only taken SAIJ two trips to lug their sleeping bags, pillows, and other sleepout paraphernalia up to the roof of the dorm, under cover of Jade's semblance. This area was technically off-limits to students and the door was kept locked. It was a manual lock, however, rather than an electronic one, so it was no trouble at all for Jade to finesse the door open with her lock picks.

Aurum lay on her stomach in her sleeping bag, staring out at the darkening sky. She hadn't said anything in a while. Jade guessed she was still trying to process actually _winning_ the Vytal Tournament. Not surprising, really. It would probably take some time to start sinking in. Indie had brought a book out with her and was reading by the light of her scroll. Skye was fiddling with her own scroll, evidently on some news page. Jade didn't want to ruin the moment by saying anything, so she joined Aurum in her contemplation of the sky.

Her attention was quickly caught by the Amity Colosseum, still floating in the air a mile high. It was all lit up still, but since the lights were solar powered (which Jade only knew because Indie had mentioned it) they would fade as the night went on. The visual was extremely striking at the moment. Her fingers twitched; she wished she'd brought her sketchbook. She'd have to draw this first thing in the morning.

A flock of birds suddenly flew by overhead, passing in front of the shattered moon. Jade let a sigh escape. _It's so beautiful up here… but how could I have lived at Beacon for two years and not known about it?_ She knew why, though: her fear of heights would have been a major deterrent. But it was mostly under control now. She resolved to bring her sketchbook up here during the break. With the festival going on, she hadn't had much time to draw lately, and she missed it.

Skye passed in front of her, jarring her attention away from the view. The team leader had her scroll open to Friendly Faces, the only social media site she was active on. On cue, Jade's scroll gave a "deedle-deedle" noise, indicating an alert. Flicking the bar, she found a post from Skye: an image of the four of them from last month, on their shopping outing. _That feels like so long ago…_ Skye had tagged all of her teammates in the post, and captioned it with _SAIJ will be unavailable for anything until tomorrow morning, as we have decided to spend some time as a team. Please do not attempt to contact us until eight in the morning at the earliest. Congratulations to Aurum on winning the tournament!_

Indie had gotten the same alert, judging by the face she was making at her scroll. Aurum hadn't moved. Jade leaned over toward her Faunus teammate to get a better look. _Asleep again…_ Not that Jade could really blame her. Aurum had fought _two_ matches today; as best she could tell, the catnip provided only a temporary energy boost, which would explain why Aurum didn't use it too often, and also why she'd perked up a bit earlier but was crashed out now.

Jade settled into her own sleeping bag, closing her eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a very big day. The closing ceremonies, where Aurum would be officially crowned Vytal Tournament Champion, always happened the day after the final match…

 _She was running, running hard. Something was hot on her heels; she couldn't take the time to look back, but she could feel it behind her, gaining on her._

 _She let out a shriek as talons sank into her shoulder. Ducking, twisting, she managed to escape one set, but the other held firm and she felt her feet leave the ground._

 _Where were her weapons? She knew better than to go into the wilds outside the kingdoms unarmed, but they were nowhere to be seen. At this rate, all she could do was beat it with her fists. She kept screaming as she pummeled the thing as best she could from this angle._

 _She kept screaming as it let go and she plummeted toward the ground._

Jade woke herself with a muffled shriek, her mind still believing she was falling through space. Breathing hard, she clutched her pillow, giving her sleep-addled brain a minute to realize that she was safe at Beacon, no giant Nevermores anywhere in sight.

A glance at her scroll informed her that it was a few minutes past two in the morning. Tossing it aside and slumping back down inside her sleeping bag, she considered the nightmare that had woken her. Except for the no-weapons part, it was completely true to her memory, which somehow made it even more frightening.

She cast a wary glance toward the edge of the roof, reaching for her tonfa. Their comforting heft worked to ground her a little, and her breathing finally slowed to a more normal rate.

This nightmare had plagued her for a solid month after the incident itself. Every night, she'd wake up screaming, her body soaked in sweat. Even worse, she usually woke her mom as well. Yang already didn't get enough sleep; Jade felt awful about waking her. But she hadn't had any variation of the nightmare in months. _Why now? It doesn't even bother me that much anymore!_

With the grips of Lu Xise held tight in her hands, her sleeping teammates sprawled out around her, and the knowledge that dozens if not hundreds of professional Huntsmen were within a mile of her current location, Jade forced the memory out of her mind. She'd been making real progress conquering her fear in the last year; she would _not_ let this nightmare keep such a hold on her. Setting her weapons aside, she burrowed back down and closed her eyes again.

xxxxx

Aurum woke with her head pounding.

She could only remember a few jumbled fragments of the last twelve hours—standing at the back of a bullhead with Skye and Jade in front of her, hauling her stuff up to the roof, the taste of catnip. That last one explained the headache, at least—catnip hangovers sucked, big time.

Well, this wasn't the first time she'd overdone it. A hot shower and some food would do wonders for her.

Her teammates were packing their stuff up around her. Aurum quickly bent down to do the same, then groaned as what felt like a dozen tiny jackhammers started up inside her head.

Indie managed to catch her reeling partner. "Whoa, what happened to you? I thought sleep would restore all your aura after yesterday's matches!"

"Ugh… too much… catnip," Aurum groaned, shutting her eyes against the bright sunlight, but not before she caught Skye's interested glance her way.

"Catnip gives you a hangover?"

"Too much, yeah," Aurum replied, nodding. She instantly regretted moving her head and groaned again before continuing, "Ugh, how much did you spike that drink with?"

There was a pause as she imagined her teammates were trading guilty expressions, then Skye answered, "A tablespoon. It was nice and fresh, too."

"That'd do it, then," Aurum muttered. "Definitely too much." She opened her eyes back up to see Jade offering her a pile of folded stuff. A quick glance at the bare floor proved that it was her own. "You didn't have to do that."

Jade shrugged. "The closing ceremonies are at noon. You need to be there to prepare to accept the mantle of Tournament Champion early, and you need to shower and… uh… iron, first? You kinda look like crap. No offense."

"I _feel_ like crap," Aurum muttered, accepting the pile and glancing down to see that she was still dressed in the crop top and leggings from her combat outfit. Both were horribly creased; Jade had a point about ironing, although she didn't know how _that_ was going to happen. Her shoes were sitting a few yards away, but she couldn't see her skirt or gloves anywhere. _Must be down in our room_. She had _zero_ recollection of leaving them there, but she gave a quick thought of gratitude that her exhausted, post-tournament self had had the sense to ditch them instead of sleeping with them on.

"Come on, let's head inside," Indie prodded her.

Aurum took a minute to slide her feet into her shoes before following her teammates to the door. Jade peeked inside before turning back to them and reporting, "Okay, coast is clear," before activating her semblance and escorting them all down the stairs and over to their dorm room.

Their door was covered in paper, no doubt congratulatory notes to Aurum for winning the tournament. _Still can't believe it…_ Skye unlocked the door with her scroll and the four piled inside.

Their piles of stuff were immediately discarded, with most getting tossed on beds or desks. Jade overshot her throw and her pillow bounced off her bed, landing on the floor.

Aurum immediately made a beeline for the shower. It was there, staring at her disheveled reflection in the mirror, that it finally sank in. _I won the Vytal Tournament. It's the biggest competition in all of Remnant, and I_ _ **won**_ _! Everybody will know my name. I'll get to open the next tournament. People will be asking me for autographs…_

As she'd expected, her shower did amazing things for the pounding in her head. She took a good solid ten minutes to close her eyes and simply feel the hot water pounding on her back. Her soap and shampoo routine were performed robotically; she let her mind wander during it, before finally stepping out and reaching for her towel.

After drying off and grabbing her clothes, it only took her a second to realize that the pile of fabric in her hands was not the same one she'd tossed onto the bathroom counter a half hour ago. This was her workout gear, not her combat outfit. Mildly disturbed that she hadn't noticed one of her teammates sneaking in to exchange the clothes, she quickly pulled on the outfit.

 _Jade's slipping—this is a super lame prank._

She realized her mistake after opening the bathroom door. Jade was nowhere in sight, so she hadn't stolen Aurum's clothes—Indie had, and she currently had them laid out on a desk, attacking them ferociously with an iron. Aurum raised her eyebrows, half impressed and half bewildered. _Indie knows how to iron? Where'd she get that thing anyway?_ Aurum was fairly certain that Indie hadn't had the iron with her at Beacon since they moved in—she would have noticed something like that.

The door opened and Jade appeared, with two giant platefuls of food. She let the door swing shut as she announced, "You would not believe the frenzy in the dining hall right now. It's way too crowded for my semblance, and I had at least _twenty_ people ask me where you were or tell me to pass along their congratulations." She punctuated her statement by plunking the food down on one of the desks that Indie wasn't using as an ironing board.

Aurum snatched up a corn muffin and devoured it in three bites, before reaching for the entire plate and beginning to inhale its contents.

Skye grabbed an apple from the other plate and started munching on it. In between bites, she said, "Sit here, I'll do your hair for you." She pulled a chair out from a desk. Aurum took the offered seat and tried to sit still as Skye whipped out a comb and started running it through her silky black locks in a businesslike way, then plugged in a blow dryer and turned it on high.

Aurum folded her ears flat at the noise. Skye winced. "Sorry. I'll try to be quick."

To her credit, she did manage to get Aurum's long hair mostly dry in a timely manner. By that point, Indie had finished with her ironing and was hanging the black and gold outfit from her bunk. Aurum snatched it and headed back into the bathroom, ostensibly to change but also to get a good look at Skye's handiwork in the mirror.

She quickly changed her outfit, then, on a whim, decided to apply some of the shimmery gold eyeshadow she kept for special occasions. _If this doesn't qualify, what does?_ Upon leaving the bathroom, she found Skye still standing at the chair. Sighing exaggeratedly, she sat down again and let her team leader start fiddling with her hair, being cautious not to mess with her kitty ears.

Aurum didn't like to fuss with her hair overmuch, usually just brushing it and letting it hang down her back. But Skye's final arrangement looked like a slightly fancier version of her everyday style, with a couple small locks framing her face. It looked… really nice.

Indie checked her scroll. "It's almost ten. You need to be in the colosseum by eleven-thirty, which means we should probably leave to head up there no later than eleven."

"Nerd," Aurum coughed into her arm.

A pillow promptly flew across the room and smacked her in the face. "Hey!" Aurum picked up the pillow and threw it back at Indie, but the hooded girl simply knocked it aside with her semblance.

Skye stepped between the two. "Oh no you don't. We are not starting a pillow fight right now." She quickly examined Aurum's hair to ensure no damage had been done by the fluffy projectile.

xxxxx

Aurum stood in the center of the colosseum. Her team was in the stands—she could see them, just barely, if she squinted off to her right. The spotlights were on her, and as she waited, she imagined she could hear them buzzing slightly over the crowd noises. At least her head wasn't pounding anymore; the shower and food had done the job.

This was the standard for the closing ceremonies. The newly crowned Tournament Champion would receive the ceremonial regalia, and display it for all to see, in front of the representatives for each kingdom. Traditionally, the representative of the winner's home kingdom would bestow the crown upon them, while the hosting kingdom's representative would present them with the sword. But since this year, the Champion happened to be from the hosting kingdom, it would fall to Headmistress Goodwitch to fill both roles.

Aurum held her breath as the four kingdom representatives appeared, each one at one of the four compass points of the stadium. The headmistress stood directly in front of her at the eastern point of the compass.

All four of them strode forward, in step with each other, and stopped once they were only a few feet away from the center. Goodwitch merely paused a moment before closing the distance. Aurum tried to keep her face impassive as the tall, imposing woman produced the golden crown, engraved with the tournament emblem. She held it aloft, _agonizingly_ slowly, before lowering it to rest on the Faunus's head.

Aurum twitched her ears involuntarily, bringing a tiny smile to the Headmistress's face. "I want you to know, Miss Belladonna…" the blonde woman began softly, "that you have done _very_ well for yourself at Beacon Academy. I, and all of the faculty, are extremely proud of you."

That was high praise indeed from the formidable Headmistress. Aurum bobbed her head, not trusting her voice but needing to acknowledge the praise nonetheless.

Goodwitch waited a presumably specified number of beats, before extending her right hand. The championship sword was held there, point down. Aurum reached for the ceremonial weapon, feeling its heft in her hand. The Tournament Sword was a beautiful creation. Its hilt was studded with gemstones, making it much too heavy for actual combat, but since its purpose was purely ceremonial, she supposed it was all right for it to be a bit flashy.

Aurum slowly closed her eyes and turned ninety degrees to face the next representative in the circle: Winter Schnee, representing Atlas.

The Specialist gave a slight bow, which Aurum returned. Winter smiled briefly, and stepped forward. "The kingdom of Atlas salutes your tenacity and your skill. You will be a wonderful Huntress." In a much less formal tone, making it clear her words were for Aurum alone, she added, "I am so proud of you, and I know the rest of your family is as well."

Like Goodwitch, Winter kept her voice low enough that the numerous press microphones wouldn't pick it up, though Aurum could hear the words perfectly. She nodded in acknowledgement and turned to the Shade representative next.

Since the representatives from Shade and Haven didn't know Aurum personally, their congratulatory words were somewhat stiff and generic. There were no additional words of praise for her, but they still got the job done, acknowledging the new Champion on behalf of their kingdoms. Aurum completed the circle and found herself facing Headmistress Goodwitch again.

As one, the four representatives took two steps back, letting the audience view the face of the Champion—and no doubt giving the news cameras in the crowd time to focus on her as well. Aurum waited a few seconds, before dramatically lifting her head, and brandishing the sword high into the air.

The applause and cheering that followed were nearly deafening. Aurum folded her ears down, for all the good that did, and hoped the cameras hadn't caught it—possible, but unlikely. She held the sword up for a solid thirty seconds, until finally lowering it, her hands shaking.

xxxxx

Skye stared at her mother. "You're leaving?" She couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Weiss nodded regretfully. "Yes, I need to return to Atlas. As much as I'd love to stay a little longer, there are things at headquarters that require my presence." She frowned slightly. "I would much rather stay here than sit in stuffy old meetings all day, believe me, but Klein called me the other day saying that there was a slight issue with the new refinery prototype. He said he would be able to buy me until the end of the festival, but not very much longer than that."

Skye had sometimes, though rarely, regretted choosing Beacon over Atlas, but never more so than at seeing the sadness in her mother's eyes at having to leave earlier than expected. A twinge of guilt settled into her mind. Her mom was only here in Vale to see her in the tournament; this issue could have been resolved already if Weiss had stayed in Atlas for the festival. If she's been attending Atlas, they could see each other much more often…

Her feelings must have shown on her face, because Weiss took her daughter's shoulders in a surprisingly strong grip. "Don't you dare start blaming yourself for this!" She paused a moment, then continued, "I was only going to be able to stay another few days anyway, and there was _nothing_ that could have stopped me from coming to see you, understand?"

Skye nodded. "It's just… I'll miss you." Her voice sounded odd to her own ears; she was choked up. Weiss pretended not to notice as Skye wiped away a couple tears, her own eyes suspiciously bright.

"I know, sweet. I'll miss you too." Weiss brightened a bit. "I'm going to be doing some traveling in the next year or so. Going around to inspect all the regional offices. If you're not off on a mission with your team while I'm in Vale, I would certainly make the time to see you."

"Really?" Skye perked up at hearing that. "When? I'll block that out right now as no-missions-allowed time!"

Weiss laughed in delight; the sound was sheer happiness. "Well, I don't know the exact dates yet. Klein was going to work on that schedule while I was here. But I'll certainly call you with you the details as soon as I know." Weiss staggered a bit as Skye threw her arms around her mother, but quickly recovered and returned the embrace.

Skye rested her head on Weiss's shoulder, basking in the warmth that came with it. Weiss planted a kiss on top of her head before letting go.

xxxxx

Indie hugged her parents, keeping one eye on the rest of her team. "So you're leaving early tomorrow morning?"

Ilia nodded. "First thing. I doubt you'll be awake at that hour." She playfully ruffled Indie's hair. "We want to be on the first ferry back to Patch. I'm supposed to be doing a special presentation on the Vytal Tournament at Signal next week, and I need to put the finishing touches on it now that the festival's over."

Indie pulled back. "But classes aren't even in session at Signal right now." Most schools in Remnant followed roughly the same academic calendar, beginning in February and ending in October. There were a few exceptions, like Ferrous College of Business and Law in Atlas, where Peony attended, but those were few and far between.

"It's a promotional thing," Ruby answered, with a grin. "We're trying to recruit more students. I'm guessing the fact that this year's Champion is a Signal graduate won't hurt matters."

Indie shrugged. Signal had a reputation as being an excellent school, but she knew that was mostly due to the fact that Patch's somewhat sparse population equaled relatively low enrollment, which in turn meant that the teachers were able to give each student significant individual attention. Ruby's point about the new Champion was definitely valid, though; Indie guessed Signal would see a substantial increase in student enrollment for the coming year.

As one, the three of them looked over toward said Tournament Champion. Aurum was giving her brother a hard time about something while her grandparents stood nearby; Indie couldn't hear what exactly. Ren and Nora had already departed, taking a reluctant Citrine and a much more vocally reluctant Lian with them, but Melano had stayed behind. By chance, he'd ended up booked for the same ship back to Kuo Kuana as Ghira and Kali were, and they'd insisted he travel with them.

Kali had had enough of the argument, if her sudden move forward to squish both twins into a giant hug was any indication. "Enough!" Her voice was loud enough that Indie could hear her. "You two are grown up now. You're too old to be bickering with each other like this!"

Aurum shot her grandmother a sly look. "If we're grown up, does that mean you'll stop calling us kittens?"

Kali let out a surprisingly girlish giggle and tweaked both their ears at once. "Never. You'll always be my kittens." Aqua batted at her hand, while Aurum managed to twist away.

Indie turned her attention over to Skye and Jade. Both of them were alone, Weiss and Yang already gone. It wasn't unusual for Yang to have left so soon—she had a hard time staying in one place for very long—but Indie had expected Weiss to stay for at least a few more days.

Skye was trying hard not to look as though her mom's early departure bothered her, but Indie knew her team leader well enough to know that Skye would probably have herself a good cry later. Jade, on the other hand, looked almost… nostalgic. _Does she wish she'd left too?_

Indie knew full well that Jade had a perpetual itch to travel, a drive to explore, born from her life on the road. She hadn't said anything yet, but Indie was guessing that her cousin intended to leave Beacon during the break, to travel around and find herself "wrapped up in crazy adventures," as Yang put it. _Maybe it's genetic…_

"So, can we count on your help to move us?"

 _Huh?_ Indie glanced up, then foolishly realized that Sun hadn't been talking to her. Aurum was nodding her head. _Oh, right. They'll be moving into faculty housing since Blake's a teacher now._

Ghira, Kali, and Melano had all taken their leave while she'd been contemplating Jade. The much-diminished family gathering had begun moving toward Beacon; Indie had to hurry to catch up. Glancing back toward the colosseum one last time, she felt an odd feeling rise up in her. _I'm really going to miss this…_

 **Fun to imagine what the closing ceremonies look like, since we never got to see it in canon. Same for the opening ceremonies several chapters back, to be honest. Anyway, please leave a review! I love getting feedback from my followers!**


	30. A Night to Remember

**I've got a backpacking trip this weekend, so I won't have access to wi-fi to upload this chapter on Friday. So have a chapter a couple days early! Probably gonna keep this new update schedule, so look for the next one in two weeks like usual.**

 **I've been really into the V6 soundtrack recently ("One Thing" and "Indomitable" are my favorites). A couple days ago I started my semiannual RWBY marathon in preparation for V7, and I noticed that while the song "Forever Fall" wasn't officially introduced until V6, there's an instrumental version playing in the background of every Jaune/Pyrrha scene in V1 and V2. Just a little "Hey, I recognize that song!" moment, but I felt so accomplished.**

 **With Halloween just around the corner, I've been thinking about new cosplays, and I've decided I** _ **really**_ **want to do Velvet at some point. Also considered doing a genderbent Neptune, but I wasn't completely sold on the idea.**

 **I don't own any characters, locations, or events that you recognize from RWBY.**

 **A Night to Remember**

Aurum had _not_ spent the last couple days hiding out in her team's dorm room.

That was what she kept telling herself, anyway. The one time she'd mentioned it out loud to her teammates, Indie and Jade had given identical disbelieving snorts and Skye had fixed her with such a perfect copy of Weiss's _I-call-bullshit_ expression that Aurum nearly accused her of practicing it in the mirror.

They hadn't bugged her about it too much, which Aurum appreciated. Given some of the comments they'd made when they'd reentered the room after meals, they had been subject to some of the adulation—although _harassment_ might have been a better word—by Aurum's new fan club. Also thankfully, her parents hadn't been bothered too much by the adoring crowds. They were staying on campus for a few days, in the professional housing. Students tended to avoid the building, since none of them wanted to come face-to-face with the formidable Headmistress in a place they weren't technically allowed.

Tonight, though, Aurum would be venturing outside her dorm for the first time since the closing ceremonies. Only students were permitted at the Beacon Dance, along with their dates if they happened to be civilians, which meant no media. This was a private event, meant for the students to unwind and enjoy themselves.

Back in her parents' Academy days, the dance had been held _before_ the tournament. That had changed once the higher-ups caught on to the fact that some students used it as an excuse to get close to rivals, in order to suss out their strategies for the tournament and gain an advantage. Now, while the closing ceremonies marked the _official_ end of the Vytal Festival, many students didn't consider the festival _over_ until after the dance.

As she pulled on her dress, Aurum couldn't help thinking about how the dance had technically been her parents' first date. That was a lot of pressure, considering it was her first date with Pitch as well. Their conversation from the other day filtered back into her head.

 _How come you never said anything about… well, that you liked me like that?_

 _I... didn't want to say anything in case you didn't feel the same way._

 _But… you kissed me. After our match, I mean._

 _Yeah, that was the adrenaline. But I was out of line; you should have smacked me._

The realization that she'd been too hung up on her feelings for Aubergine to have noticed Pitch checking her out stung a bit. Aurum had never considered herself clueless in terms of romance, but now she felt foolish.

Aurum was shaken out of her thoughts by the door slamming shut. It was Skye, coming back from wherever it was she'd been.

"Hey Skye, can I borrow your straightener?"

Skye disappeared into the bathroom, but called, "Sure, just don't forget to unplug it when you're done."

"Thanks!" Aurum went and plugged in the device, letting it heat up as she brushed her hair.

She didn't fool around with her hair often, but this was a special occasion, after all. Her gold eyeshadow would also be making an appearance tonight. Jade and Indie were back in the room by the time she'd finished with both.

Jade yelled toward Skye, "Hey, can I use your straightener?"

"Aurum's already using it!" Skye yelled back.

"No, I'm done with it," Aurum interceded. She handed the device toward her teammate.

"Thanks," Jade responded, shaking her ponytail loose. "Hey… did it work?"

"Did what work?" Aurum had no idea what her teammate was talking about.

"The straightener." Jade nodded toward the device in her hand, a grin forming on her face. "Did it work? Or are you still bi?"

Indie snickered in amusement while Skye, emerging from the bathroom, tried unsuccessfully to choke off a snort. _Traitors…_ Aurum promptly—albeit silently—swore revenge on all three of her teammates.

Jade evidently didn't regret her stupid joke in the slightest. Indie snickered for another minute, then settled into helping Skye affix the silver hair clip she'd bought at Custom Combat.

Aurum took a quick moment to evaluate herself in the mirror. _Dress… check. Hair… check. Makeup… check. And jewelry… check._ She flicked her ears and watched the gold and amethyst earrings sparkle.

xxxxx

Indie had just slipped into her dress when a loud thump sounded at the door. Jade was the one who opened it, revealing a tall raven Faunus wearing a dress in inky black. Pitch only had eyes for Aurum, catching her gaze in the mirror. The beads in her hair caught the light and sparkled.

Aurum couldn't help staring. Indie watched her partner, amused to see that she was so caught up that she didn't notice the blond head peering timidly around the tall girl. "Uhh… hello?"

Skye perked up, recognizing her boyfriend's voice. "Just a sec!"

Aurum pulled Pitch further into the room, letting Zelty get a good view of Skye in her formal finery. Indie had to admit he looked nice too. Although the suits the boys wore had less room for variation than the girls' dresses, it was pressed neatly and he'd managed to find a royal blue bow tie to make himself stand out a little.

The boy stared at Skye in awe for a solid minute. Whatever he'd been about to say, it was cut off by a loud wolf whistle. Skye immediately spun around and glared daggers at Jade. The tall girl pretended not to notice her leader's death glare, but Indie was guessing that Jade had just found herself on the heiress's hit list.

Skye, after taking a moment to regain her composure, turned back around. Taking her boyfriend's arm, she hastily maneuvered him out of the room, letting the door slam shut behind her. Jade had the audacity to snicker.

Before her bespectacled teammate could make yet another bad joke, Aurum did the same as Skye just had: took her date's arm and pulled her into the hallway. Indie kept laughing, relieved that the tension of the last few days seemed to be finally dissipating.

Since neither Jade nor Indie had a date to the dance, they both took a few more minutes to get ready. Indie walked back into the bathroom, feeling the dress swishing around her legs. It was kinda cool, but she preferred her comfortable jeans.

She was also a tad self-conscious of how low-cut the dress was in the front. It wasn't like she was a total prude, but this dress showed _far_ more cleavage than she was used to. _At least I don't have to do anything with my hair…_ Although—she frowned at a couple pieces sticking out funny—it couldn't hurt to brush it.

Jade was gone by the time she emerged. A bit disgruntled that her teammate had decided to go ahead without her, Indie shook it off and headed for the ballroom.

She passed a few of her classmates in the hallway, all of them dressed in their finery. Cerulea had foregone her usual all-black ensemble in favor of an _extremely_ short silver dress. A few steps later and she happened across two more. Saphed had put on a suit, like all the boys, but his ever-present phoenix tie took the place of the standard bow tie. Rhoda, in a pink dress that looked like a slightly fancier, sleeveless version of her everyday clothes, stood next to her date. The rest of CROM and AZSR were nowhere to be seen. Indie knew Aubergine and Rue both had dates, but she knew Kage didn't, and she wasn't sure about Esme.

 _Not my business…_ Indie scolded herself as she walked outside, headed toward the ballroom. The night was chilly; she rubbed her hands over her bare arms and quickened her pace.

"Hey, kiddo."

 _Huh?_ Indie spun around fast to see Qrow leaning casually against the wall of the academics building. He gave her a crooked grin. "All grown up and heading to your first dance. Hope your date knows you've got a big family; I'd hate to have to beat him up if he breaks your heart."

"I don't even _have_ a date," Indie protested. "Not everyone does. And nobody asked me to go."

"Is that so?" Qrow arched one eyebrow, before reaching for his flask and taking a swig. Indie scowled at him.

"Uncle Qrow, d'you even have a liver anymore?" She wrinkled her nose. "Never mind, don't answer that. I'm… I'm going now; it's cold out here." She hurried toward the ballroom, but not before she caught him laughing at her in her peripheral vision.

xxxxx

Jade lurked by the punch bowl, hoping nobody would accuse her of spiking it. That was _exactly_ the kind of prank she liked to pull—under different circumstances. A handful of people formed an uneven line, waiting to fill their cups. Jade let a snort escape. _Heh—it's a_ _ **punch line**_ _…_

Truthfully, at this moment, she was just hiding out, waiting for the time when she'd hopefully feel less awkward.

That time might never come.

She had never been a fan of social events like this. It had only gotten worse, when Yang had been in Atlas seven years ago and had been invited to a party by Weiss, and Jade had found herself cornered by Atlesian socialites who looked down their noses at her grubby clothes and unrefined manners. That was the point when her semblance had manifested itself the first time—she'd simply stood there, wishing she could disappear, and suddenly one of the busybody ladies was looking around wildly, asking, "Where did she go?" Weiss had apologized profusely afterward for putting her in a situation like that.

The occasion had not improved Jade's opinion of parties.

"Hey! Wanna dance?"

Jade wildly turned toward the voice, finding herself face-to-face with a pair of bright violet eyes. Scarletta of Team RUST laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her onto the dance floor. A new song had started, a very upbeat one, and the floor was a sea of couples who were spinning and weaving their way around each other. The gold dress the redhead was wearing suited her nicely, Jade noticed. But she had no right to drag someone onto the dance floor…

As Scarletta twirled her around, Jade found the older girl's enthusiasm to be contagious, and started smiling as she let herself get into the rhythm of the music. She finally relaxed a smidge. She _did_ actually know how to dance, and enjoyed it; Yang liked nightclubs, and Jade had snuck in under cover of her semblance more than once. Faster songs like this one were popular in those places. Jade had developed an appreciation for dancing, but this was her first time trying it with someone else.

The song ended, and Scarletta grinned. "Thanks for that!" Then she was off, spinning between pairs of students. Jade spotted her a minute later, dragging another apparent wallflower out onto the dance floor. The older girl certainly wasn't shy, and her methods had worked on at least one person. Jade settled into a seat on the sidelines, feeling much less awkward than she had a few minutes ago.

xxxxx

Skye and Zelty had been stopped on their way to the ballroom by Professor Scarlatina, who held up her camera and grinned cheekily at them in a silent question. Neither one had objected, and the teacher had snapped half a dozen photos of them before she put the device away and wished them a pleasant evening. Now, as Skye glanced around the ballroom, she wondered if this would be anything like the dances she'd gone to at Atlas Prep.

There was one very big difference, at least. She glanced over to the young man still holding her arm somewhat nervously. She shook her head. Zelty caught the movement and looked over at her; her three-inch heels had nearly halved the difference in their heights. "What?"

"Out with it," Skye insisted.

"Out with what?"

Skye shook her head again. "You have the _worst_ poker face I've ever seen. What's bothering you?"

"Well…" He hesitated for a moment, then blurted out, "I don't know how to dance!"

Skye stared for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Oh, is _that_ all?" She squeezed his hand. "It's not hard, I promise. You understand music plenty well enough; dancing isn't that different." The song that was playing ended, and a new one started up. Ignoring his protests, she dragged him onto the dance floor. "Look, _I_ know how, all right? Just follow my lead and you'll pick up it quick."

xxxxx

Indie was making the effort to be sociable. She had been sorely tempted to skulk in the corner, but after seeing Scarletta's ploy to eliminate wallflowers, she decided it might be better to at least look like she was trying. At the moment, the cheerful redhead was dancing with one of her friends, another third-year that Indie vaguely recognized but couldn't put a name or team affiliation to.

Spying on a certain classmate was proving to be entertaining. Kage, dressed in a silvery gray suit rather than the standard black, had come to the dance without a date. Indie had wondered if he hadn't been able to find one, and she'd been surprised, considering what a flirt he tended to be. Now, though, as she watched the half dozen cute guys and girls clustered around him appreciatively, she realized he'd had an ulterior motive. The wolf Faunus looked ridiculously satisfied with his little harem, like a cat who'd gotten into the cream.

"Would you like a dance?"

Indie ignored the question, assuming it had been meant for someone else. Then a light tap on her arm brought her attention to the _very tall_ young man standing next to her: Argentum Bracken from Team MGNA. "I said, would you like to dance?"

"I… sure!" Indie managed to get out her acceptance. Argentum took her hand and led her out to the dance floor. A faster song was playing, and Argentum was a surprisingly good dancer. She let him take the lead, trusting his abilities more than her own. The fact that he was more than a foot taller than she was didn't bother her; Melano had originally taught her the basics of dancing, and he was just as tall as Argentum. She'd been shorter then, too.

It was nice, actually. Whoever had selected the music for the night had done a good job of it; Indie recognized the remake of _Too Far_ by the Lowdowns that had been topping the charts for a few weeks now. The original was one of her favorites, but the remake was pretty good.

Argentum unexpectedly spun her around. Indie let out a startled laugh. With that, she resolved to quit worrying about how ridiculous she must look right now, and enjoy the rest of the evening.

xxxxx

Jade had accepted a couple of dances from her friends, but it hadn't been long before she found herself back on the sidelines. Scarletta, evidently taking a break from hounding people, plopped down next to her. "I can't believe you didn't get a date!"

"Uh-huh…" Jade narrowed her eyes. "And where's _your_ date? I can't imagine they're too happy with you spending all your time with other people."

Scarletta shrugged, unapologetic. "I don't have a date. Nobody asked me, and I'd rather spend the time with my friends instead anyway."

"So where do you get off asking me why I don't have a date?" Jade demanded.

"Well…" Scarletta pondered it for a moment, unoffended by Jade's harsh tone. "You're pretty, you're nice, and you won in the doubles round so everyone knows who you are. Not to mention your partner's the new Champion. Frankly, I'm surprised you don't have a whole line of people asking you out."

Jade suddenly felt oddly flattered. An upperclassman had that opinion of her? But she felt the need to point out, "Aurum's not my partner; Skye is. And… by that logic, how come nobody asked you either? I mean, you didn't win in the doubles, but you put up a good fight, and everyone could see you, while I spent almost the whole fight either hiding or invisible." She hadn't been there for Scarletta and Usiku's doubles round, but she'd heard about it after the fact. It had been a major upset when Team LPYN of Haven had emerged victorious, although Rhus's teammate had been knocked out by Scarletta before the young man had finally gotten the jump on the redhead and sent her flying out of the ring.

"Meh…" Scarletta shrugged. "Not really sure. But why question it? This is a party, after all; I don't wanna spend it feeling sorry for myself." She was quiet for a moment. "Speaking of the tournament… do you wanna spar together sometime? I've never faced you, and after seeing you fight, I have to say I'm dying to."

"Sure, why not." Jade wasn't about to turn down an opportunity like that. Scarletta seemed like a genuinely nice person, if a bit overly outgoing, and Jade had taken notice of her skill before. "But not 'til after the break; I'm not sticking around."

xxxxx

Skye had been right: once she showed her date the steps to each dance, he picked them up quickly. His natural instinct for rhythm gave him a huge advantage.

Both of them were out of breath when the latest song ended. Skye made as if to keep dancing, but Zelty tugged her over to the sidelines. She guessed she couldn't blame him for needing a break.

No sooner had they seated themselves than Indie appeared next to them, a glass of punch in each hand. She handed them off to her teammate and date, then leaned over Skye for a minute.

"You two looked so cute out there!"

"You did too," Skye replied. "I saw you dancing with Argentum; what made you ask him?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Indie flushed pink. "It's not like that. He asked _me_ to dance, okay? And I think he was just being nice."

At that moment, Douglas of Team CTRS appeared behind her. "Hey Indie, wanna dance?"

Skye's suggestive grin only grew more intense. Possibly suspecting her team leader was going to rib her about it all night, Indie quickly took Doug's hand and let the older student lead her onto the dance floor. Skye laughed to herself for a minute before calming down and leaning her head of her date's shoulder.

Zelty leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. "I had no idea you were such a good dancer." He was speaking so softly she had to strain to hear him.

Skye pulled him a bit closer. "I had to learn. You've seen the elites in Atlas—ballroom dancing is practically bred into us. It's one of the only things I liked about the press events and charity concerts." She didn't add that she despised rubbing elbows with the snooty socialites at those events; the boys she'd been forced to dance with had always seemed terrified of her. They'd only seen her last name, not the girl wearing it. Zelty had been like that too… at first. He was naturally a bit shy, and her solid defeat of him in their first fight hadn't helped matters.

The day he'd pulled his courage together and asked her to tutor him had been the real breakthrough. She'd been determined to make him see her like the rest of their classmates did—as a girl, not a name.

Zelty leaned a little bit closer to her. One of his golden curls came loose and flopped down onto his forehead. Skye didn't dare try to kiss him with so many people around; she settled for reaching up and tucking the loose strand of hair back into place, before settling back into her seat with a contented sigh.

xxxxx

Spinning wildly around the dance floor was the most workout Aurum had had since her final Tournament fight. Dancing was a whole different kind of workout than fighting—it was breathless, exhilarating, electrifying… though that might have had more to do with the company than anything else.

Seriously, Aurum was having the time of her life. Not that she was such a great dancer—her skills were firmly mediocre, and Pitch was even worse—but they'd just finished a slow dance, and that was pretty hard to mess up. The raven Faunus's peridot eyes looked nearly electric in the low light; her backless dress sparkled as the sequins caught flashes from the spotlights here and there. Aurum had barely been able to keep her eyes off the older girl.

Now they were sitting on the sidelines, full glasses of punch in hand, talking. Pitch was telling Aurum what she planned to do after graduation. "I really like it here in Vale. It's more modern than Vacuo, and way less uptight than Atlas." She cast a cheeky glance over at her date. "Not to mention the fascinating company."

"Hehe…" Aurum giggled nervously. "So you think you'll base yourself out of Beacon rather than Haven?"

Pitch shrugged in a noncommittal way. "For now. I do need to stop in at Vacuo City sometime soon and see my parents. It's been way too long, and they deserve to know I'm safe."

"Yeah…" Aurum caught a glimpse of her partner on the dance floor. "Hey, check it out: Doug's dancing with Indie."

Pitch craned her neck to try and spot the couple. With a crooked grin, she remarked, "How much you wanna bet they're talking about weapons out there?"

Aurum giggled. "No deal."

"Smart." Pitch responded. "I know my partner; weapons are pretty much all he cares about." Her gaze grew distant. "We've talked about this. We knew we'd probably go our separate ways after we graduated, but still… it'll be hard to get used to not having my team around."

Aurum made a sound of agreement, letting her mind wander. Would her own team split up after graduation? Probably. Skye would most likely return to Atlas, and Jade would ditch them all for the open road. She wasn't sure about Indie. Considering the possibility hurt; she knew most teams did their own thing after graduating—Team RWBY certainly had—but she'd never thought of it in terms of herself before.

"May I have this dance?"

Aurum's mouth fell open as she realized who was standing in front of her. Aubergine grinned, a little uneasily, fidgeting with the hem of her violet dress. It took the Faunus a minute of gawping like a fish before she managed to get out a "Sure."

Pitch didn't try to stop her; on the contrary, she moved her legs aside so the two purple-clad girls could make their way to the dance floor more easily. As they took their places and began moving, Aurum was sure she was staring. She'd never seen Aubergine without her bandana before, but tonight the girl's purple curls were floating freely around her shoulders, and she wore a pair of shiny gold hoop earrings very similar to the ones worn by the skull in her emblem.

Aurum took advantage of the moment to ask a quick question. "Why'd you ask me to dance? You're here with my brother; doesn't he mind?"

Aubergine shook her head. "Not at all! I… I never would have met him if not for you, so I figured… I owe you."

"Yeah…" Aurum didn't want to think about that.

"Hey." Aubergine's fingers tightened on her arm. "I didn't realize… well, that you thought of me… like that. If I had…"

"Would it have changed anything?" Aurum asked quietly.

Aubergine was silent for a moment. "Maybe. I don't really know…" She glanced over to where Aqua waited patiently for his date to return. Aurum followed her gaze. "But he asked me first."

"You… really like him, huh." Aurum couldn't blame her friend; her brother was charming and handsome, and girls had always flocked to him.

"I really do."

"Well… okay then. But I'm totally gonna beat him up if he messes with you." Aurum's attention strayed to the shimmering strap on Aubergine's dress. Her eyes caught on something… "Hey, I didn't know you had a tattoo."

"Oh… Yeah." Aubergine moved the strap aside slightly so Aurum could get a better look. There were three words on her collarbone, written in an elegant script Aurum didn't have a hope of deciphering.

"What's it say?"

A tinge of sadness covered Aubergine's features. "It's… the names of my father, and my little brother and sister. Our home was attacked by Grimm when I was ten. Mom and I made it out. They… didn't. We packed up and moved to Mistral afterward, but the day I was accepted into Temple, both of us got matching tattoos of their names."

"Oh… I was afraid of that." Aurum squeezed her hand briefly. "You talk about your mom a lot, but never any other family. I didn't want to ask."

"It's… all right." Aubergine met her eyes. "You're lucky, you know. Aqua told me a lot about your family. It's really big, and you still have everyone. In this line of work… I know how rare that is." The song ended, and Aubergine made as if to go back to her date, but very quickly turned back and gave Aurum a light peck on the cheek.

Aurum watched her go, flustered, before she shook off the feeling and looked around for Pitch. _I hope she didn't see that…_

xxxxx

Skye groaned in pain as she closed the door firmly behind her. It was nearly midnight, and she had had _enough_. Reaching for her shoes, she groaned again, this time in relief. Her feet were _killing_ her. How did Mom fight in heels?

Zelty, ever the perfect gentleman, had insisted on walking her back to the dorm. She'd been grateful—really, he was _so_ sweet—but she'd probably closed the door in his face a bit rudely in her desperation to get out of the death traps. _I'll have to apologize for that first thing tomorrow…_ She'd kept him to herself for most of the evening; Rue had requested one song, and Skye wasn't going to deny the kind girl a dance with her partner.

She knew she had to take off the dress and get into her pajamas, but the process required almost more energy than she had left. Somehow, she managed, the cotton tank top and shorts feeling like heaven on her skin—the dress she'd chosen had _looked_ good, sure, but it was much scratchier fabric than her normal clothes. _What's next? Right… have to brush my teeth. Would it really kill me to skip it for one night?_ At least she didn't have to remove any makeup.

Skye sat down on her bed, intending to only take a minute to gather her strength, but as soon as her cheek hit the pillow, she knew it was a mistake. There was no way she'd have the willpower to get up again now. The last thought to run through her mind, was that the evening had been spectacular, and she would remember it for the rest of her life…

 **Woo! Reached the halfway point here. Also set a new record for word count. Only by a hundred words or so, not counting the a/n, but still, it's something I'm proud of. Leave a review; let me know you enjoyed it!**


	31. Welcome Back

**Quick announcement before we get to the chapter: I will be establishing a THREE-DAY spoiler ban for the new volume. That is, three days from the time that the episode becomes public, so ten days for First members. Not everybody is able to drop everything and watch the new episode the second it's out. I'm aware that I didn't do this last year, but I've recently dealt with several spoilers from other fandoms, and I think it's really jank of people to ruin everyone else's fun that way.**

 **Seriousness over. On to the fun stuff!**

 **I do not own anything except my own original characters.**

 **Welcome Back**

Skye woke in her bed with a soft sigh of contentment. The break had felt much too long. It might not have been so bad if her teammates had stuck around, but the day after the students from the other academies had gone home, she'd woken up to find Jade's bed empty, with a note on the desk saying she was going backpacking around Vale and not to expect her back at Beacon until the week before the new semester began. Jade posted photos of her backpacking adventure every few days; Skye could admit to being a little jealous.

Aurum had ended up spending the vast majority of the break in Vale, helping her parents pack up the house for the move to Beacon. According to her latest text, they weren't quite finished yet; Blake was going to have to start teaching her classes before the move was fully completed.

Indie had spent the entire break back home on Patch. At her invitation, Skye had made the trip herself for a few days. It had been nice to get away from Beacon for a little while.

She was still the only one in the dorm; Indie would be returning later today, Jade tomorrow, and Aurum within the next few days. Classes didn't start until next week, and as third-years they didn't need to go anyway, but Skye had insisted that they return in time for the guest speakers while the new students completed initiation.

Skye quickly glanced at her scroll and let out a startled "eep!" She was going to be late! Flying out of bed, she speedily threw on her workout clothes and tugged a brush through her long hair, deciding to throw it into a messy bun rather than taking the extra time to put it in its usual style. At the last second, she remembered her sword; it would have been ridiculously embarrassing to forget it.

Flinging the door open and tearing down the hall, she was briefly grateful that not everyone was back from break yet. There were fewer people around to see her racing toward the training yard like a crazy person.

The soft strains of a flute filtered through her mind and she growled a quick curse. Zelty had gotten tired of waiting for her and started playing to pass the time. She slowed, getting her breath back. Well, she wasn't going to interrupt him. She'd wait until he finished the song before making her presence known.

The notes he was playing sounded familiar. She strained, trying to make them out, but it wasn't until the tempo sped up slightly that she recognized it. Without consciously deciding to do so, she began singing along softly.

"Amazing how you conquered me, chained me in servility…"

Zelty was too experienced a player for her unannounced accompaniment to distract him. He played a bit louder as Skye continued to sing. "But I don't intend to suffer any longer… Here's where your dominion falls apart… I'm shattering the mirror, that kept me split in pieces, that stood between my mind and my heart…"

Skye seated herself on the wall of the practice arena, still singing. Distantly, she noticed that the song seemed to be spiraling around them; the world was just the two of them, surrounded by music.

"I guess your training failed, you're not in charge, I'm free…"

The end of the song was in sight. Skye reached for the final notes. "I will not surrender; this life is miiiine!" Now she had to catch her breath again; the notes faded around them. It was a little shocking that her voice hadn't cracked or wavered, considering she'd done absolutely nothing to warm up before the impromptu performance.

Zelty was watching her curiously. "I've never heard you sing before."

Skye tried to shrug it off. "It's not something I do very often, but I do enjoy it now and then." She hopped off the wall and drew her saber, trying to deflect his line of thought away from her singing voice by pointing the weapon at him squarely. "But we're not here to discuss my singing; we're here to train."

xxxxx

"… and that is why most Huntsmen prefer simpler weapons. By the time he'd untangled his shirt from the gears, it was in tatters and the Beowolves were on us," the redheaded woman giving the guest lecture concluded. "He was lucky the rest of our team was there; if he'd been alone, it is very unlikely he would have survived the encounter. After that, we pitched in to help him upgrade, or rather downgrade, as it were."

Jade scribbled down a couple notes. This Huntress had been talking about her partner, who, to hear her talk about him, wasn't actually as dumb as this story made him sound. It was good that he'd discovered the flaw in his weapon fairly early in his academic career and worked to fix it; otherwise, she doubted he would've made it to graduation.

She unconsciously reached for her own weapons, hanging from her belt as usual. Lu Xise had gone through a number of iterations before she'd settled on the current forms. She'd started with what was essentially a staff, like Kage's Night Fury, but after Yang completely demolished her in training a few times, realized she needed something with more defense against close-combat fighters. After shrinking it down to a baton, she'd been surprised to find that her fighting style was actually very well suited to wielding dual weapons, and so had added a second one. Overcomplicated? Not at all. They were guns, blunt weapons, and worked with Dust. That was it. They weren't flashy either, being fairly standard sized (unlike a couple of scythe-wielders she happened to be related to) and matching her established color scheme.

"Any questions?"

Jade flinched as a hand nearby shot into the air, nearly knocking her glasses clean off her face. She straightened them while giving her Faunus teammate a dirty look. The Huntress giving the lecture focused in their direction. "Yes?"

"What qualifies a weapon as 'overly complicated'?" Aurum wanted to know.

The Huntress gave a smile. "There is no single one-size-fits-all answer to that question, I'm afraid. Nearly every Huntsman on Remnant has a weapon built for their own use and nobody else's, which means that weapons are as diverse as Huntsmen themselves. Generally speaking, however, a weapon is 'overcomplicated' if it interferes the slightest bit with your movement, catches on things," she smiled slightly, "like clothing or tree branches, or has more functions than you will realistically use in battle."

Aurum sat back in her seat, looking thoughtful. The Huntress turned her attention elsewhere as Aurum began examining Aurora Blaze, running her fingers over the shiny golden surface. _She can't seriously be thinking it's too complex? Maybe for someone else it would be, but it suits her perfectly!_

On Aurum's other side, Indie looked bored—shocking, considering she'd been all enthusiastic about a weapons workshop. Then again, Jade thought, there was no way Crescent Ranger could possibly be considered "overly complicated." It was a bow, pure and simple. Indie used her semblance to increase the arrows' effectiveness, and each one had a color-coded thread tied around the fletching to indicate what type of Dust it contained—red for fire, silver for wind, yellow for lightning, and so on. She'd added blades for close combat a few years ago, but had used them so rarely that she'd made the decision last year to get rid of them. She was the best out of all of them at playing to her strengths.

Evaluating her teammates' weapons maybe wasn't the best thing to do. Zoning out like she was, Jade only became aware that the lecture was over when Rue brushed past her to leave the room.

xxxxx

Indie had been steeling herself for this all week. Through guest speakers, team formation, and the emails from all their professors asking each team to set up a time to meet and discuss academic details. But that was over now, and she couldn't put it off any longer.

With her scroll propped up in her lap, she opened up the Friendly Faces app. A bubble popped up, asking if she wanted to continue as _IndietheArcher._ She tapped Yes and as the screen appeared, ran her finger down the list of friends who were active at the moment. She noted distractedly that none of her teammates were online; the little dot next to _sky3schn33_ , _aurabelle_ , and _Little_Jade_Dragon_ were conspicuously absent.

Her eyes roved over the other names. _RedReaper_ —Ruby was online. Most of AZSR was active too—the dots next to _RueTheDay_ , _ZSMusicDude_ , and _whiteflamedphoenix_ were all lit up.

 _Enough stalling_. She skimmed down the list of names until she found the one she'd been searching for: _Peony_Sapphire_. The indicator dot was lit up, meaning that she had no excuse to put this off any longer. Drawing in a deep breath, she tapped the "Call" icon. A few dots circled on her screen for a moment, until the image resolved into a young woman her own age.

"Indie. This is a pleasant surprise."

"Hi Peony." Indie gave a sort of awkward wave, then immediately felt foolish. She quickly tucked her hand under her thigh to make sure she couldn't do anything else so stupid.

"How's life at Beacon treating you?" Peony raised her eyebrows in inquiry. Not for the first time, Indie thought what a shame it was that Peony had decided to become a lawyer instead of a Huntress. Her pale pink hair was styled into a severe page-boy haircut, and her eyes were an icy shade of blue even lighter than Skye's; the combination was intimidating enough that Indie was sure even the most terrifying of Grimm would have turned tail and run if the full force of that glare was turned on them. The crisp black power suit the future lawyer was wearing was accented by a pink blouse, and only served to highlight her intimidation factor.

"Beacon is… good," Indie answered. "It's the first week back; feels weird to not have to go to classes."

Peony smiled, not quite suppressing a chuckle. "I can't relate, unfortunately. I sometimes think law school is even more demanding than combat school. Mentally, anyway; there isn't much call for the physical workouts Beacon demands of its students."

"You like it though, right?" Indie couldn't imagine that Peony would have stayed in law school if she thought it was that bad, but then, she couldn't imagine attending a school like that at all.

"Hmm… yes," Peony replied, after giving it some thought. "I know Mom and Dad were a little disappointed that I decided not to become a Huntress, but they fully support my decision." She paused a moment. "Indie… is there a reason you're calling me through Friendly Faces instead of on my scroll? I know you have my number; I'm guessing this call wasn't just to chat."

Indie shook her head, not trusting her voice. _Of course_ Peony would have picked up on that; she regularly faced down her opponents in court without blinking, so of course she'd be able to sense the discomfort of a single rookie Huntress.

"I didn't want to bother you while you were in class or working on a case, so I decided to see if you were online first." Indie knew she was babbling, and took a quick breath before her next words. "And I'm calling because I… I wanted to know how you went about finding out about your birth parents." There, she'd said it.

"Ah." Peony shifted; her image zoomed out a little. "I wondered if you would ever try to find that out for yourself." She hesitated a moment. "Am I correct in assuming that that's why you're asking? You want to know what I did so you can do it?"

"Y-yes," Indie stammered out. _Why is this so hard, dammit!_ "I… I mentioned the idea to my parents while they were here for the tournament. They suggested I ask you, since you've already gone through the process."

"Mmm…" Peony considered a moment. "Two places to try would be the agency that authorized your adoption, and the orphanage you were adopted from. You were at the same one I was, right? The Meridian Children's Home?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"I… don't know." Indie was startled to realize that. Where _had_ she spent the first two years of her life?

Peony nodded her head. "In any case, the place to start is with your adoption papers. They'll have the name of the home, and also the name of the authorizing agency. Physical or digital copies are both fine. After you have that, the next step would be to go to the orphanage itself. They are required to archive all of their records in case of this exact situation." After a slight pause, she added, "You won't be able to send someone else to get it for you—you need to go yourself, with some form of identification. Your Beacon student ID should be fine; it has your name, date of birth, and everything a legal ID needs."

"Just… a minute." Indie hadn't expected such a wealth of information. She quickly grabbed a piece of scrap paper and began scribbling down Peony's instructions. A moment later she looked back up. Peony gave her a slight smile.

"Got it all?"

Indie looked over what she'd just written. "I think so."

"Good." Peony hesitated for a moment. "I have to warn you: there might be nothing for you to find. Many of the kids in orphanages lost their families to Grimm attacks; it's very possible you were one of them."

"I know." It had been that possibility that had kept Indie from trying sooner. "But… if that turns out to be the case… then I'm not any worse off than I am now."

"True enough," Peony conceded. "I hope you find _something_ , at least. And Indie? You really should call just to chat at some point. It gets a little lonely, being so far away from my family all the time."

xxxxx

"And that's the last one!" Aurum set down the box with a grunt of effort.

"Finally!" Blake cheered. "I thought this move would take forever."

"Well, it's just the two of us moving stuff," Aurum pointed out. "If Dad's mission hadn't lasted so much longer than expected, we would have been done more than a week ago."

"Fair enough." Blake plunked herself down on one of the boxes with a sigh of relief. "So… what will you be doing now?"

Aurum considered. "We've met with all our professors except Doctor Oobleck, and Professor Planis has been out so we haven't met with her yet either. I bet we'll have appointments with them both next week. After that… well, I don't really know. Missions, and homework, and training… that's probably it."

"Well, don't give up on having a social life outside of your team," Blake cautioned. "Make the time to do other things, to relax now and then." Her expression grew a bit sly. "Maybe get some coffee with a pretty girl?"

"Moooom…" Aurum protested. "Pitch isn't even in Vale right now. She's in Vacuo, visiting her parents."

"Regardless." Blake gave her daughter a quick glance. "You did say she was coming back to Vale afterward, and I insist on meeting her. I'm your mother, it's my job."

Aurum rolled her eyes. "And are you gonna insist on meeting Aubergine, too? Me and Pitch are just trying things out and seeing what happens; she and Aqua are officially a couple."

"I already did," Blake responded. "And I like her. But…" her expression grew more serious. "I don't want to see either of you in a bad relationship, all right? Is that so much to ask?"

Aurum frowned. She'd never been told the details about her mom's love life before meeting Dad, but she'd eavesdropped enough over the years to know that Mom had gotten out of an abusive relationship. If that was true… well, she couldn't fault her mom for trying to make sure her babies didn't end up in a similar situation.

"Well, okay. She said she'd let me know when she was leaving Vacuo," Aurum answered. She decided to change the subject. "Speaking of coffee… I could really go for some right now. The café is open late; wanna get some?"

"Make it tea and I'm in," Blake replied with a grin.

"Deal," Aurum replied, hopping out of her seat. Blake shook her head and opened the door, holding it open for Aurum to skip through.

Turning the corner and taking the lead, Aurum had to duck to the side quickly to avoid running into Emerald Planis, who looked a bit startled to see a student in the faculty housing. "Oops! Sorry 'bout that!" Aurum quickly apologized. She half turned back around. "Hey Mom, I dunno if you two've met yet…"

" _You_."

Aurum had a split second to register the look of cold fury on her mother's face, before Blake lunged forward. A moment later, the teacher let out a shriek and flew backward into the wall, with one hand clutching her face. Blake was on her in a heartbeat, fists flying.

"Mom, what the hell?!" Aurum shrieked, launching herself forward. Somehow, she managed to grab one of Blake's arms and attempted to pull the woman back. It was a struggle; Blake was straining forward, swinging wildly.

"Aurum Belladonna, let go of me _this instant_ ; I am your mother and you will do as I say!"

Aurum let out a grunt of effort, still struggling to pull her mother back inch by inch. She didn't bother with trying to answer. _I can't keep this up forever!_

No sooner had that thought occurred to Aurum than the obvious answer leaped into her brain. Pinning her ears in preparation, she opened her mouth and let out the loudest, longest scream she could muster. Blake flinched at the noise and momentarily stopped flailing. Hopefully there were still some teachers in the building; if the sounds of a scuffle hadn't summoned them, then surely a loud scream would alert them that something was wrong.

"That is _enough_. Miss Belladonna, you can let go of her now."

Aurum turned her head to make absolutely sure that it was Headmistress Goodwitch who was speaking. As soon as she'd confirmed that, she released Blake, who leaped forward again—only to smack into a large, purple force field. Goodwitch looked beyond pissed.

"Miss Belladonna, please leave this building. I will be having words with both of them in my office." With that, the headmistress turned on her heel and walked out, dragging the force field—and Blake—behind her. Aurum went over to where the green-haired professor was still cowering against the wall and held out a hand. The teacher's red eyes met her gold ones for a moment before she accepted the offered hand.

"I don't know what she was thinking, trying to punch you like that." Aurum immediately began examining her teacher's injuries. "You've got a split lip and you'll have a nasty bruise on your cheek, but your aura should heal those up in a day or two. I don't see anything else, unless you hit your head on the wall?"

Despite everything that had just transpired, the professor managed a smile. "So, you _were_ paying attention in my classes. No, my shoulder took the worst of it." She straightened. "Thank you. I—I should be going."

Aurum watched as Planis exited the building through the main doors. There was something going on here, something she wasn't seeing… On a hunch, she pulled out her scroll and sent a group message to the rest of her team.

 _You would not believe what just happened to me…_

xxxxx

Emerald watched Blake warily out of the corner of her eye as Glynda paced the office. They'd been ordered not to talk, but the Headmistress hadn't said anything about murderous looks—so Blake had been shooting those at her for the past ten minutes, since she'd gotten there. Emerald wasn't sure what they were waiting for. The suspense was heavy in the air—if Glynda was going to fire her, why couldn't she just do it already?

A loud thump on the door made her jump like a startled rabbit, and brought Glynda's attention back to the present. "Come in!"

The door opened, revealing a petite woman in pink. Nora's eyes found Glynda first, then Blake, and finally Emerald, seated as far away from Blake as possible. Her expression softened. "Oh, Emerald… I warned you this was going to happen."

"I know," Emerald answered quietly. "You were right." She sighed. "You usually are."

Blake's eyes had gone comically wide at seeing Nora going to Emerald first. Emerald felt a bit of petty satisfaction for that.

"Now." Nora very deliberately seated herself in between the two, her skirt fluttering as she crossed her legs. "What exactly happened here?"

Glynda seated herself behind her desk and proceeded to explain the situation. "I am ashamed that I did not see this coming. Truly, I should have known something like this might happen."

Blake was staring, incredulously, between Nora and Glynda. "That's— I— But—" She trailed off, then began again. "You let a known enemy onto your teaching staff?!"

"Certainly." Glynda's calm was nearly unflappable; only the slightest flaring of her nostrils gave away the fact that she was trying hard to mask her aggravation right now. "What better way to keep an eye on a known enemy than by putting them somewhere I can watch them constantly?"

Emerald jerked her head up. "But—you said you were giving me a second chance." The unexpected feeling of betrayal that suddenly welled up inside her nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Glynda eyed her sternly. "You are smart enough to know that I do things for _many_ reasons. Surely you didn't think I would accept you into our midst without some plan to keep tabs on you and ensure your loyalties truly lie with Beacon?"

Emerald's eyes dipped. She had certainly suspected over the years that Glynda might have an ulterior motive, but she hadn't wanted to _ask_ ; there was no point in denying she was afraid of what the answer would be.

Glynda's expression grew a little wry. "All that aside, you were also the most qualified applicant for the job."

"Wait, what?" Emerald jerked her head back up again.

Glynda nodded rather primly. "Oh, yes. Nine years of medical training, in both modern and primitive medicine? Most Huntsmen don't have anything close to that, and those that _do_ … well, teaching is usually the last thing they want to spend their time doing. I certainly wasn't going to let someone like that get away."

Blake was sputtering incoherently. A stern look from Glynda silenced her.

"Now, as for you… the only reason you are still here is because, according to your own limited knowledge, you took the correct actions. So that we are clear…" Glynda looked over her glasses at Blake, her lips set in a thin, tight line. "I will give you my ultimatum now. Either you find some way to be civil toward your fellow teachers— _all_ of them—or I will find someone else to teach Grimm Studies. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Blake glowered. Then her ears pricked up and she frowned. Without a word of warning, she got out of her seat. Emerald flinched, expecting the Faunus to come after her again—but Blake went the complete opposite direction, yanking open the office door. A quartet of teenagers yelped and landed on the floor in a pile.

Emerald recognized them, of course; these students had been in her classes for two years now. Blake's daughter, along with the rest of Team SAIJ, had clearly been eavesdropping. Glynda fixed them all with her most frightening glare—Emerald quailed, and it wasn't even directed at her.

The Headmistress began speaking. "Miss Xiao Long, the use of semblances to eavesdrop on conversations is _strictly_ forbidden here at Beacon. Miss Belladonna, the same holds true for Faunus traits. Miss Schnee, Miss Amitola-Rose… I am surprised at the both of you; I thought you had more sense." She took a moment to consider. "One week's detention, starting Monday. Back to your dorm, _now_. I am extremely disappointed in all of you."

She continued to glare at them. The teens scampered down the hallway as quickly as they could; Blake shut the door firmly behind them, then returned to her seat, scowling.

"Those four are in _so_ much trouble when I get my hands on them…"

"Indeed?" Glynda raised her eyebrows at Blake. "I can assure you, they get into _far_ less trouble than their predecessors. This is the first time I've _ever_ had to give them any sort of punishment. It is sufficient; you are not to issue them any sort of additional consequence."

Emerald felt some of the tension seep out of the room. Only a tiny bit, but enough. Blake met Glynda's gaze for a moment, then gave a miniscule nod. "Fine. But… I'm watching you." Blake's words were clearly directed toward Emerald, before she shoved her chair back and stalked out the door, letting it swing shut behind her.

 **IT'S FINALLY DONE! MY BIG EMERALD REVEAL IS FINISHED! I've been looking forward to that scene for** _ **literally more than a year**_ **, ever since I first decided to put Emerald in this story! I hope it lived up to your expectations! But the fallout isn't over yet. There's lots more to come, so stay tuned!**

 **Please review, feedback makes me happy!**


	32. Aftermath

**I only own my original characters featured in this story. Everything else belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Aftermath**

Emerald watched, still somewhat in shock, as Nora tore into Blake in the hallway.

"—doesn't matter what you think. She's been working here fourteen years now! People can change, Blake, and she most definitely has."

Even after all this time, it was still a bit startling to Emerald to have somebody take her side. She knew Nora could see her standing there, even if Blake couldn't. She was out of practice with her semblance, and while she could still use it on a single person without too much difficulty, trying to affect two people was out of the question.

It probably wasn't the best idea to be using it on Blake, especially after what had just happened, but Emerald had spent all week at an especially demanding training before coming back home, only to be punched in the face by one of her former enemies. All she'd wanted was to go back to her apartment and make herself a cup of tea, and she'd been on her way to do exactly that when everything had gone wrong. But she couldn't get out of the main building without going this way. So, when she'd happened upon them arguing in the hallway, rather than making herself known and drawing Blake's wrath once again, she'd chosen to hide, waiting for it to play out. Nora hadn't let on.

"I cannot believe this," Blake protested. "You actually trust her?"

Nora's response was swift and irrefutable. "With my children's lives."

Blake appeared to be struck speechless by that statement.

Receiving no argument, Nora pressed her advantage. "I know this isn't what you were expecting, working at Beacon, but please give her a chance." She suddenly gained a tired expression; it seemed to age her, reminding Emerald that her friend was only a couple of years younger than she herself was. Nora was so cheerful and energetic she seemed much younger. "I don't like seeing two of my friends trying to kill each other, all right? She's not the enemy anymore; she's just someone who made some bad choices in the past." She gave Blake an intense stare for a moment. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

Blake's lips tightened, but instead of retorting, she simply turned on her heel and strode off angrily. Nora finally turned to look at Emerald. "Come on, let's get you home."

Emerald wasn't sure how Nora did it, but a few minutes later, she was in her apartment, wrapped in a blanket while the teakettle sang on the stove. Nora had set the tea to boiling before checking over her injuries, and pronounced them minor enough. "I guess if she was going to hit you, it's a good thing she used her right hand instead of her left."

"Huh?" Emerald didn't get it. "Why's that?"

"Ehh, you probably would have ended up with a nasty gash from her wedding ring if she'd used her other hand." At the mention of wedding rings, Nora fiddled with her own for a moment before turning back to the kettle. "I think the tea's done." She quickly retrieved a mug from the cabinet—the first one she opened, Emerald noticed distractedly—and brought the full mug over to where her charge was sitting.

Emerald stared down into the depths of the mug. "How… how are you so good at taking care of people?"

A glint of her usual good humor returned to Nora's eyes. "Well, I _do_ have four children." She hesitated for a second, then continued, "And it's not like this is the first time I've done it for you, either."

"I know." But Emerald didn't want to think about that right now. She distracted herself by taking a sip of her tea. It was perfect, hot but not scalding, and lightly sweetened with honey. She felt some of the tension in her shoulders dissipate. "Nora… did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"When you said you'd trust me with your children's lives. Did you mean it?" Emerald tightened her fingers on the mug, letting the warmth seep into her hands.

"Of course I meant it. Lian and Citrine both plan to start at Beacon in three years, so unless you've got any plans to retire before then…" Nora didn't finish her sentence, but the implication was clear. Emerald quickly lifted the mug again, letting it obscure most of her face.

Nora went on, "I'm more concerned about Blake right now. I'm sure she'll tell the rest of her team about you, and you'll have to face them sooner or later. I told you, Emerald: you can't keep hiding from your past."

"The last few hours have made _that_ abundantly clear," Emerald muttered dryly. "What… what will they do when they find out?"

"Mmm…" Nora considered the question for a moment. "Yang won't like it, but she's not as hotheaded as she was when we were younger. She'll probably watch you like a hawk, though. Weiss will scream and issue a bunch of death threats, but it's just hot air; she won't actually try to follow through on any of them. Unless you do something to hurt Skye. Then she'll kill you." Nora's tone was completely matter-of-fact. "Ruby… will be the most open-minded. She's got a way of seeing the best in people." Nora went quiet for a moment to let all that sink in. "Emerald… do you feel safe here? I don't _think_ Blake will try anything else, but I haven't seen her this angry in a long time. You know you're always welcome in our home, or… I can stay here with you tonight."

Emerald thought it over. Staying a night or two away from Beacon was admittedly an attractive idea (and the fact that she'd have access to Ren's cooking didn't hurt either), but she couldn't help thinking that it was also the coward's way out. And having Nora stay with her seemed so… immature, like a child bringing an older sibling along to protect them from a schoolyard bully. No, Emerald silently admitted, she'd done this to herself by refusing to confront her past earlier. Finally she shook her head.

"No. I'll be fine here."

"If you're sure…" Nora seemed a bit reluctant to leave Emerald completely unprotected, but she finally nodded slowly and wrapped the older woman in a hug. Emerald sank into the embrace, letting go of her worries for the moment.

Nora finally left, leaving Emerald alone in her small apartment. With a sigh, she went to the main door, locked it firmly, and for good measure slid the deadbolt into place. Her tea was nearly finished, and she was exhausted. It was time for bed. She'd deal with contacting her students in the morning. Right now…

 _One more thing_. She didn't think it was too likely that Blake would try and retaliate, not with the threat of being fired looming over her head, but Emerald wasn't going to let herself be defenseless if the older Faunus decided to prove her wrong. She didn't use her weapons much anymore, preferring to spend her time off at medical trainings, but her pistols were still fully functional, and she was still completely proficient using them in each of their forms. She was definitely going to sleep with them beside her for the foreseeable future.

xxxxx

Aurum was in the shower when the email arrived Monday morning; she didn't hear her scroll dinging. She emerged from the bathroom to find her teammates arguing.

"We can't trust her!" Skye was insisting.

"Just because _you_ don't trust her, doesn't mean the rest of us share your opinion!" Jade shouted back.

"I'm going." Indie's voice was quietly determined. "I want _answers_ , and this seems like the best way to get them."

"And how do you know those answers will be the truth?" Skye demanded. "Last I checked, your semblance was trajectory manipulation, not lie detection!"

"Lay off me!" Indie yelled. "Lies or not, I want to know what she has to say for herself!"

"HEY!"

The room fell suddenly silent at Aurum's shout.

"What is going on here?"

Indie spoke up before Skye or Jade could say anything. "We got an email from Planis asking us to meet with her tomorrow. _I'm_ going, no matter what these two say—" she threw a furious look at the other two "—because I want answers."

Aurum picked up her discarded scroll from her desk. Sure enough, there was an email from E Planis at Beacon dot edu asking Team SAIJ to meet with her. The email didn't give any information other than time (second block tomorrow morning) and place (her classroom). There was no reason for such a thing to have caused _this_ kind of scene.

"Well…" Aurum thought it over. "Obviously, we should go." Skye shot her an incredulous look. "Seriously! There's nothing in the email that says it's about what happened over the weekend. It's probably just the whole 'welcome back, third-years, here's your first assignment' spiel we've already gotten from all the other teachers. We're still meeting with Oobleck this afternoon, right?"

Her words were met with nods all around. "Then we should go to this too. If that's all it is, then yay, we don't fail out of Beacon for ignoring one of our classes, and we can grill her for the whole story while we're there. Because we don't _know_ the whole story yet."

"I think it's pretty obvious!" Skye burst out. "I heard enough in there to know that Emerald Planis is actually Emerald Sustrai. One of our _enemies_. That's all I need to know."

"She's not _our_ enemy, Skye," Jade pointed out logically. "She was our parents'—key word, _was_. And she's been working here for over a decade! Goodwitch—the other teachers—they all trust her. _Nora_ trusts her. I think the least we can do for Planis after two years of being her students is give her the benefit of the doubt!" Jade stopped to catch her breath from the tirade she'd just delivered.

Aurum stared at her teammate. Jade was the most easygoing person she knew; if the green-haired girl was voicing such a strong opinion, the rest of them would do well to go along with it.

"Are you for real?" Skye demanded.

Jade sighed. "Those in favor of going and seeing what she wants?" She immediately raised her own hand, quickly followed by Aurum and Indie. "That's what I thought. So we're going." She spared a moment to shoot Skye with a brief glare. " _All_ of us. And if you're _that_ worried, we'll go armed. Worst comes to worst, if she tries something, there's four of us and one of her, and I haven't seen her at the practice yards in…" She sputtered a moment. "… _ever_ , actually."

Skye stared down her partner in disbelief. "Are you _forgetting_ that she's some kind of illusionist?! She can make us see whatever she wants, and then escape _or worse_ while we're distracted! This is the definition of a _bad idea_!"

"Too fucking bad!" Jade yelled, clearly out of patience. "We can't avoid her for the next two years, if we'd even be able to graduate without her class. Better to just do it and get it over with!"

Skye opened her mouth to say something else. Jade cut her off. "No. You're not changing my mind on this. And you're going with us tomorrow, even if we have to drag you kicking and screaming."

Outnumbered, Skye stared between her three teammates for a moment, before stalking out the door and letting it slam shut behind her without a word. Aurum stared at the door for a minute, wondering if she should go after her leader, but Jade shook her head. "No, leave her alone. She needs time to cool off."

xxxxx

"…And so, the settlement was able to be saved with minimal loss of life and property. In the end, however, the citizens made the decision to abandon the town's meager protection and moved elsewhere. Most settled in the village of Farley, on the very southern end of Vale territory, but a handful did return to the main kingdom, and a few others decided to move to the island of Patch, just across the bay. As you all know, Patch is home to Signal Academy—how many of you attended there before Beacon?"

Skye had arrived early at Doctor Oobleck's classroom in the hope of avoiding her teammates, and had gotten there in time to hear the end of his lecture. A peek inside the room showed that a number of the new students had their hands raised in answer to his question.

"Good, good—Signal is an excellent school, many of my former students went on to teach there. Now where was I?"

The bell rang before the doctor could finish his thought. All the students began pulling their things together and shuffling toward the door. "Don't forget, for homework I want everybody to read chapter seven in _Great Tragedies of Vale_. Answer the questions at the end of the chapter, and study for the quiz next week!"

A few students were grumbling to each other as they passed Skye in the hallway. She caught something about "… talks so fast I can barely understand a word…" but was distracted from the rest of the student's complaint by the arrival of her teammates.

Indie and Aurum were talking about some new weapon modification that Cerulea had made over the break. Jade was following the conversation, nodding along in all the right places, but not really contributing anything. Skye very pointedly turned and ignored them. She was sure she could feel her partner glaring daggers at her back, but she didn't care. Did they seriously not understand the severity of the situation? One of their professors wasn't who they thought she was. She could have murdered them in their sleep anytime. Skye shivered just thinking about the possibility.

"Come in, come in!" Oobleck ordered, seeing the girls at the door. "This should only take a few minutes, so let's get started!"

The team filed into the classroom, with Aurum, Jade, and Indie standing shoulder to shoulder on one side of his desk, while Skye stood by herself opposite them, a clear division. He undoubtedly noticed, but chose to ignore it and focused instead on giving them their assignment.

"Now then, welcome back to Beacon for your third year and congratulations on not dying over the break! I have already met with the other two third-year teams; you are the last. As such, I will give you until Monday the twenty-fifth to finish your first assignment. Two weeks. Is that understood?"

There were nods all around. "Good, good! Now get going! I suggest you get started today!"

Indie, Jade, and Aurum all exchanged confused glances. Aurum finally spoke up. "Um, Professor…"

"Doctor!" the teacher corrected her, fixing her with a stern look.

Aurum barely suppressed an eye roll. "Doctor Oobleck, you haven't told us what the assignment _is_ yet."

The doctor looked completely befuddled for a moment. "I suppose I haven't. In that case… Why do you want to be a Huntress?"

"Ex-cuse me?" Aurum questioned.

"You heard me!" Doctor Oobleck insisted. "Why do you—each one of you—want to be a Huntress? That is your assignment. I want five hundred words on the topic, and you have two weeks to complete it. Am I forgetting anything?"

Indie, who was typing the assignment into her scroll, shook her head. "You gave us the assignment and the deadline… I think we have it all."

"Excellent!" the doctor pronounced. He paused for a moment. "Am I the last person you needed to meet with?"

"No," Jade answered immediately. Skye had seen her cringing at the thought of _more_ writing assignments, but she'd moved on from that. "We still have to meet with Professor Planis. She has us scheduled for tomorrow morning."

"Ah, yes yes! I'd forgotten that she was away at a training all last week. She keeps all of her certifications current at these things and even teaches a few now and then; I truly don't know how she does it." Doctor Oobleck fussed with one of the papers on his desk for a moment, then glanced back up. "You're still here? Shoo shoo! Go on, you must have any number of assignments to be working on!"

xxxxx

It was their first day of detention, and Jade looked over her assignments with a groan. _More writing… will it ever end?_ Yes, her writing skills had improved during her time at Beacon, but she still dreaded having to put pen to paper. _Let's see… five hundred words for Oobleck… that's only one page. And he's giving us two whole weeks to do it? You don't hear me complaining, that's for sure. Why do I want to be a Huntress?_ It wasn't something she'd ever really tried to put into words before. _I'll give myself a day to think about it before I start writing. Umm… a project on bug Grimm for Bla—I mean,_ _ **Professor Belladonna**_ _. Eesh, that's gonna take some getting used to._

The homework for Theory of Aura was just to read the first chapter in their new textbook, _Advanced Aura Theory and Practice_ , and summarize it in a couple paragraphs. Vulpine wasn't a super critical professor in any case; Jade wasn't too stressed about that. Professor Waters had asked them to research more obscure uses for various Dust types, and had also assigned them a recently published piece to read on the subject. She'd helpfully provided the link to the online article.

They had no assignments for Combat class, other than the obvious. Scarlatina had given them their mission requirements for the year, but they had a lot of flexibility in what they took and when.

With her homework assignments detailed and a tentative plan for tackling them formed, Jade's attention turned to their last meeting. She wasn't worried about whatever assignment Professor Planis might give them—her grades in Field Medicine had been higher than in any other class the last two years, except for combat—but she was afraid Skye would make things difficult.

Jade wasn't sure _why_ her partner had suddenly decided the introverted professor wasn't to be trusted. Yes, she'd once fought against their families, but that had been a long time ago, before any of them were even born. Yang had blatantly stated at one point that Emerald seemed to have vanished from Salem's forces after the battle at Haven, and had wondered offhandedly what had happened to her. Well, here was the answer. The professor had been at Beacon for more than a decade, and according to Goodwitch had had nine years of medical training before that.

Doing the math… Jade wasn't sure how old the professor was, but she was able to make some guesses based on the history she did know. The battle of Haven had taken place in the year 81 Age of Unity, when her mother had been eighteen. Assuming Planis was roughly the same age, and that she'd started her medical training within a year of splitting with Salem, she would have been about twenty or so. Nine years of medical training made her twenty-nine when she finished, in roughly 91 AU. It wasn't super likely she'd gone directly from student to teacher, so maybe add another year before starting at Beacon in 92.

The current year, 105, left three extra years unaccounted for. But, Jade figured, Goodwitch had said that Planis had worked at Beacon for _more than_ a decade. The missing years might be included in that.

She resolved to ask her questions tomorrow. They'd been given the whole block, a full hour, and none of their meetings with the other professors had lasted longer than ten minutes. If this one followed that pattern, then they'd still have at least forty-five minutes to ask questions. The only thing to worry about… was Skye. Jade had been completely serious about dragging her partner to the meeting even if she had to do it kicking and screaming, but she hoped she wouldn't have to resort to that.

Indie had been right. They needed answers. Jade didn't think the professor had actually lied outright, but she had clearly kept part of the truth from them. _Your semblance is trajectory manipulation, not lie detection_ … Skye's words from earlier echoed in her head.

 _Wait a minute_ … Maybe none of _them_ had a lie detection semblance, but… Jade pulled her scroll out of her pocket and sent a quick text.

"Ahem… Miss Xiao Long, scroll usage is not permitted during detention."

Jade glanced up to see Professor Scarlatina, who was overseeing their detention, holding out her hand with a frown on her face. Sighing, she quickly silenced the device before handing it over. She would just have to wait until detention was over to find out if her plan would work.

xxxxx

Indie was relieved to see that Skye showed up at the proper classroom without needing any extra… persuasion. She'd been prepared to record the meeting, just in case their headstrong leader decided to dig in her heels and refuse to attend. It seemed that she still wasn't speaking to them, though. Indie wondered how long Skye could realistically keep up her silent treatment. Sure, she was plenty stubborn, but they all lived in the same room and worked in such close quarters that she doubted that Skye wouldn't break soon.

"Come in, please!"

Aurum and Jade waited for the others to enter in front of them, presumably so Skye wouldn't be able to ditch them. Skye, for her part, pretended her teammates didn't exist while taking her spot in front of the professor's desk and pointedly resting her hand on her sword hilt. The teacher raised her eyebrows at seeing them all armed for a simple academic meeting, but thankfully didn't comment on the assorted weaponry. _**That**_ _would definitely make for an awkward conversation…_

"Thank you all for coming. I know you must be sick of these meetings by now, but bear with me for a few more moments and then you'll be free to go." She plunked a set of four thick textbooks down on the desk in front of her. "These copies of _Emergency Medical Techniques_ will be your assigned reading for the year. Please read the first two chapters and address some of the issues of providing emergency medical care to civilians versus aura wielders. Three pages, due on the first."

Indie snagged the copy from the top of the stack. The reading looked pretty basic, but this class wasn't one of her better ones. Still, the first… that gave them almost three weeks to complete the assignment, way more than any of their other professors had given them.

"That is all. You may go."

None of the four of them moved a muscle. The silence grew increasingly awkward, until the professor asked them, "Yes? Is there something else I can do for you?"

Glances were exchanged, but Aurum was the one to finally speak up. "We decided… as a team… that maybe what we heard over the weekend wasn't what it sounded like, and that we owed you the chance to explain yourself."

"Ah." Professor Planis shifted in her seat, slumping back and folding her hands on the desk, but then unfolded them and laid them on top of the stack of textbooks. "I thought that might be what was coming." She looked down for a moment, quickly brushing a strand of hair out of her face, before determinedly squaring her shoulders and continuing. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"You used to be called Emerald Sustrai." Indie's words were more of a statement than a question, but the professor nodded anyway.

"Yes. Although I stopped using that name more than twenty years ago."

"You fought against our families," Indie continued.

Their teacher cringed slightly, but her voice was remarkably steady as she replied, "I did."

"So." Skye glared. "How do you expect us to trust you now?"

"You don't have to. You only have to meet with me now and then in order to finish your graduation requirements. But I've never lied to you, and I don't want to hurt anyone. I left that life behind me when I accepted my medical apprenticeship." Planis looked a little nervous, but kept her head up and her voice low as she answered.

Jade looked thoughtful. "How long have you been teaching?"

"Mm… this will be my fifteenth year at Beacon." Her red eyes suddenly grew a bit distant. "Fifteen years… who would have thought?"

"Wait, fifteen?" Jade looked like she was doing some complicated math problem in her head. "How old are you?"

"Oh my gods, Jade, you can't just ask someone that!" Aurum protested.

The professor silenced her with a hand. "No, I don't mind. And in answer to your question, I am forty-four; I started teaching at Beacon when I was thirty."

"Good enough for me," Indie mumbled. She hefted her new textbook and spun around, heading for the door. The rest of her team followed, but Jade stopped them just outside the classroom and produced her scroll from inside her jacket. A familiar pink-haired cousin stared back at them.

"Well?" Jade asked, directing her question to Peony, who rolled her eyes.

"Every single thing she said in there was true." Peony's ice-blue eyes narrowed a bit. " _Including_ the part about never lying to you. If I'd known _who_ you were suspicious of, I never would have agreed to use my semblance for this. I guarantee Mom won't be happy when she finds out."

Jade glared at the scroll. "I didn't _want_ to do this, Peony. But I didn't see another choice. Your semblance is completely foolproof; if she was lying, you'd know. Now we know she wasn't lying, and that she never was." Jade's final sentence was accompanied by a glare in Skye's direction. The heiress simply crossed her arms and looked annoyed.

Indie didn't hear the door behind them opening, but suddenly a voice broke into the conversation. "Ah, Peony Sapphire. Lovely to see you again."

All four of them jumped rather comically, but Peony looked unfazed. "Hello Emerald. I apologize for this; my cousins insisted that I listen in on your conversation and use my semblance to ensure you weren't lying."

"Mmm…" The professor made a small sound that almost seemed amused. "I hope they didn't distract you from your own studies. Law school can't be easy."

"It's a challenge, certainly," Peony answered. "One I should probably get back to, seeing as I've just spent several minutes of my free time eavesdropping on this whole conversation." That comment was punctuated with a pointed glare. "I'll be seeing you." The screen went blank.

Indie caught a glimpse of Professor Planis's face as she passed them, turning down another hallway. Her expression was _definitely_ amused.

 **All right, finally got to introduce my Remnant calendar! Age of Unity, dating from the end of the Great War. Probably should have done that earlier, but it slipped by me somehow. Pretty sure my math is good, but if anybody spots an issue with it, please let me know so I can fix it. Even if you don't, please leave a review!**


	33. Family Matters

**I do not own RWBY. That honor belongs to the lovely people at Rooster Teeth.**

 **Family Matters**

Skye kicked a rock on the path out of her way as she walked sullenly through the small grove of trees. She was sick of having to deal with her team. How could they not see what she saw? It wasn't about something stupid like figuring out what pizza toppings to order, not this time; it was about people's lives.

"Miss Schnee."

The voice was immediately recognizable as the Headmistress. Skye spun around and found herself face to face with the blonde woman. "What brings you out here today? We are quite a distance from the school. All of your classmates are back that way." She motioned back toward the main campus; Skye could barely make out anything but the Beacon CCT tower through the trees. "Unless you are actively trying to _avoid_ them?" She raised her brows expectantly.

Skye internally debated how much to share. She highly doubted the Headmistress wasn't fully aware of her current issues with her team, but in the end, she decided it was still best to keep things vague and settled on, "My teammates and I are having… a difference of opinion right now. I'm trying to think it through without them around to badger me."

"I see." Goodwitch narrowed her green eyes shrewdly. "It's none of my business, certainly, but I do hope you try and work out your differences soon. A little… hostility is not necessarily dangerous, but if you let it interfere with your duties as a Huntress in training, it could have dire consequences."

"Um… I'll do my best." Skye glanced at her scroll. "I… should probably go. I have homework."

Goodwitch nodded decisively. "Far be it from me to stand in the way of your schoolwork. But please think about what I told you."

"Right," Skye mumbled. She shuffled down the path, not doubting for an instant that Goodwitch had seen right through her flimsy excuse.

Still intently focused how to make her teammates see her side of things, Skye barely noticed Rhoda stabbing at a tree until the pink-haired girl pulled her sword back quickly. Skye stopped short, belatedly realizing that she'd very nearly gotten herself decapitated by her classmate's training session.

"Hey, might wanna watch where you're going!" Rhoda called out cheerfully.

Skye opened her mouth to make a cutting response, then closed it. She was upset with her team right now, not anyone else! And here she'd been _this close_ to taking out her anger on Rhoda, who had nothing to do with the whole debacle.

She let her shoulders slump just the tiniest bit. "Yeah. Watch where I'm going. I definitely wasn't doing that."

The freckled girl sheathed her sword and set her shield on her back. "Hey, are you all right?"

Skye stared.

"It's fine if you don't feel like talking…" Rhoda shrugged, "but I've been told I'm a great listener." She let the offer hang in the air.

Skye considered for a long moment. Maybe talking to somebody who wasn't involved _would_ help her figure it out. Finally, she motioned toward the large bench swing hanging from a tree branch off to the side. Rhoda followed her to it, hazel eyes bright with curiosity.

"It's… a long story," Skye began slowly. "Somebody… isn't who we thought they were. They've been lying to us." She considered that statement, then corrected herself. "Only they haven't actually been lying because Peony swears they've never actually lied to us, but they didn't tell us the whole truth and that's just as bad. So now we can't trust them anymore, but my team doesn't agree with me on that, and I can't deal with them right now."

Rhoda's eyes had gone wide; that clearly wasn't what she'd been expecting. "That's… pretty intense. This person… are they dangerous? Have they done something to threaten you?"

"No," Skye was forced to admit. "I mean, yeah, they're dangerous, but this is combat school; we're _all_ dangerous." Rhoda conceded the point with a shrug. "And no, they haven't threatened me or anyone else that I know of. But how can we trust somebody if they aren't completely truthful with us, if they're deliberately withholding information?" Under her breath she added, "And why can't my team see that?"

"You should ask them that, not me."

"Huh?" Skye was shaken out of her annoyance. "That was a rhetorical question."

"Even so." Rhoda's expression had gone deadly serious. "You know your team better than anyone else. They're your cousins, your _family_ ; you've known them your whole life and they're your best friends. I know you and I have never been super close, but if it was my team… I'd want to work things out as soon as possible so we wouldn't make things _worse_ out in the field."

Feuding teammates… negativity… and negativity attracted Grimm. "You know, Goodwitch just told me almost the same thing."

"She's not the Headmistress of Remnant's best combat academy for nothing," Rhoda pointed out. "Hey, before I forget… who's Peony?"

Skye did a double take from the sudden change in topic. "Ah, another one of my cousins. She's in law school in Atlas right now. Her semblance is lie detection, so we called her up to try and figure out if… this person… was telling us the truth."

"Lie detection, huh? That sounds like a pretty useful semblance for a lawyer," Rhoda commented.

"Yeah." Skye stood back up. "She says it's already helped out in a number of cases, even if she's not allowed to go into too much detail with us. Confidentiality and all that." She hesitated a moment. "Hey Ro?"

Rhoda glanced up at her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. I really needed that."

xxxxx

 _I want to be a Huntress because being a Huntress is the best way to help people._

Aurum saved the file with a sigh of relief. Her essay on why she wanted to be a Huntress was finished, with a week to spare. She took a few minutes to check her various social media sites before opening up her Grimm Studies project again.

… _flying Grimm are more dangerous than terrestrial Grimm because they can fight in three dimensions instead of two._

Aurum thought about that sentence for a minute. She didn't usually take Grimm Studies assignments so seriously, but she'd never had her mom as a teacher before. Putting forth the extra effort couldn't hurt.

She glanced over at the other top bunk at Indie, who had her head buried in her Theory of Aura textbook. They'd been assigned this project as a partner pair—each pair in their year had been assigned a different topic; they'd gotten flying Grimm—and they had agreed to divide up the work based on their own strengths. Aurum was writing captions, looking up sources online, and finding images to work into the project, while Indie was doing the bulk of the writing and planning on proofreading everything once it was finished.

Skye and Jade had made a similar arrangement, but Aurum wasn't sure how that was working out. With Skye not speaking to any of her teammates at the moment, the two were clearly not doing much work on their project together. Aurum hoped that they were at least working on their respective pieces of the assignment; she had no interest in having their team average drop because Skye was being stubborn and refusing to do her homework. That wasn't _super_ likely, since Skye took her academics so seriously, but she had a stubborn streak a mile wide and Aurum wouldn't put it past her.

Typing up a few more paragraphs, she was shaken out of her concentration by the sound of the door opening. Jade had returned from her trip to the library, closely followed by her partner. Surprisingly, Skye wasn't exuding the hostile attitude she'd drawn over herself like a cloak the last few days. "Ah… I have something to say to you all."

 _This oughta be good_ , Aurum thought, unusually cynical.

Skye continued, a little hesitantly. "I… I haven't been a good leader lately. I _still_ don't think it's a good idea to blindly trust a known enemy, but… I shouldn't have let that come between us like it did. I can't let my feelings get in the way of doing my job as a Huntress." She stopped abruptly, fidgeting with her hem.

Jade eyed her with a frank, _you're-fooling-no-one_ expression. "Tell you what. You give us an _actual_ apology—consisting of the words _I'm_ and _sorry_ —and I'll agree to put this behind us."

Skye's face turned red and it looked like it was causing her physical pain to say it, but she managed to force out the words. "I'm… sorry… that I let my temper get the best of me."

Jade seemed to consider that for a moment. Aurum held her breath—was this it? Was it the end of the feud that had been going on for the last week?

On the other top bunk, Indie looked like she was biting her lip to keep from saying anything.

Jade finally answered, "Apology accepted—by me."

Indie picked up on the cue a bit quicker than Aurum did. "And me."

Aurum hesitated another moment. "And by me… on one condition."

Skye narrowed her eyes.

Aurum went on, "Keep your issues to yourself. We don't want to hear about them. You've made your thoughts on trusting Planis one hundred percent clear. I'm not sure _I_ trust her either, but I'm gonna pay extra close attention to her for a while before I make the call one way or the other. Just because she used to be one of the bad guys doesn't mean she still is." She stopped, hoping Skye got her meaning.

The team leader scowled. "You could have said that earlier."

Aurum raised and lowered one shoulder. "Would you have listened to me?"

Skye opened her mouth, closed it, then sighed. "No, probably not."

"Then that's why I didn't mention it sooner." Aurum pulled her assignment back in front of her face. "Look, I appreciate you making the effort to apologize to us. We're a team, we need to stick together. So no more silent treatment, okay?"

xxxxx

Jade wandered through the paths of Beacon's miniature park. This wasn't a part of campus she visited very often—meaning, ever. There was a nice little grove of trees with benches placed strategically within, and a couple of little pools. Very picturesque; she was armed, because she rarely went anywhere _un_ armed, but she'd come here to draw, not fight. She'd spent a lot of time since returning from break on the dorm roof, drawing the view, but she'd decided this morning she wanted to try something new.

The bench just around the bend proved to be the most attractive spot. She plopped down on it, pulling her sketchbook and pencils out of her bag. There was a small squirrel sitting on a tree branch a few yards away, watching her with its front paw lifted. _Cute…_ She quickly sketched its outline. The little guy almost seemed like he was posing for her. Selecting the brown pencil, she managed to add in a little shading around the ears and nose before he scampered off, out of sight.

While she worked on the piece, she considered Doctor Oobleck's assignment. _Why do I want to be a Huntress?_ It was proving to be much more stressful than she'd originally thought. How was she supposed to write a whole page on the subject? _Is that why he gave us two whole weeks for the assignment? Is this something people usually have trouble with?_ Inspiration simply wouldn't come, and today was Thursday; she only had four days left to get it done.

Something different entered her awareness. The sudden silence that had just descended was _not_ natural. It had been quiet while she'd been walking through the trees, but after she'd settled on the bench, the little birds and creatures had resumed their chatter. Now it had stopped again, which typically meant there was an intruder nearby.

Jade cautiously activated her semblance, fading from view and looking around for the source of the disturbance. Her eyes caught on something overhead. Her normally easygoing expression twisted into a scowl. Making sure to keep herself unseen, she slowly retrieved her weapons from her belt, aimed upward, and fired.

The large bird she'd been aiming for let out a shriek as her bullets hit it and plummeted toward the ground… but when it landed, it wasn't a bird anymore. It was a woman, with red eyes and long black hair tied back. She was dressed in red and black too, highlighting her sharp features; the only sign of her age was the thin silver streak at the front of her hair.

Jade stared at the intruder with a carefully blank expression for a moment, before turning back to her drawing and, with deliberate nonchalance, remarked, "You know, it's not nice to spy on people."

She tried hard to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that snarkily commented that it was spying on people that had gotten her detention all of last week. _That was different_ , she told the voice, hoping to shut it up.

"You _dare_ —" the woman huffed. Jade cut her off.

"Yes, I dare. You sneak into Beacon and find me while I'm separated from my teammates? You could have been planning an ambush. There's no way Goodwitch would fault me for this."

Raven crossed her arms and glared. "You could have been shooting at my brother, you know. Did you think of that?"

Jade gave her an exasperated look, her mind ticking steadily. Raven evidently didn't know that Qrow couldn't fly anymore—the broken arm that had forced him to retire had also affected him in bird form. Well, she wasn't going to be the one to break the news. "Like I can't tell the difference between a crow and a raven?"

"Oh, is that so?" Raven arched an eyebrow sarcastically. "Then tell me, what exactly _is_ the difference between a crow and a raven?"

"Ravens are bigger and uglier," Jade muttered under her breath. Raven clearly heard her, if her sudden scowl was any hint, but let the insult slide. Jade could barely see the resemblance between the two of them; they had different hair, eye, and skin colors, and _very_ different fashion sense. She _had_ inherited the unruly Branwen curls, which at this moment, seemed to be the only physical characteristic they shared. "Now, is there a reason you're here interrupting my studying? Unless you feel like helping me with Oobleck's homework assignment, go away." She was trying hard to be flippant, hoping that the mere mention of homework would scare Raven into changing shape and flying off again.

Her hopes were dashed when Raven, instead of shying away, tentatively shuffled half a step forward. "What's the assignment?"

"Five hundred words on why I want to be a Huntress," Jade answered, then continued under her breath, "As if you actually cared."

Raven frowned. "Tell me, why _do_ you want to be a Huntress? Surely there's something else you could be doing with your life. Something less dangerous."

Jade didn't acknowledge the ridiculousness of a _less dangerous_ lifestyle being suggested by the leader of a bandit tribe, choosing instead to focus on the question itself. "I want to be a Huntress… because it's the only thing I'm good at."

The words fell from her mouth before she'd given them any thought, but she knew as soon as they reached her ears that they had the ring of truth to them. Sure, there were other things she was _good_ at, but none of them would be worth squat when it came to earning a living for herself.

Raven frowned at her and took another step forward. Jade immediately trained her guns back on the woman. "Not a step closer. I've already shot you once, I have no problem doing it again."

"Prickly, aren't you?" Raven muttered. "Fine." She settled herself against a tree, half leaning on it. "The way I see it, you have plenty of other talents besides combat. Art, for instance." She nodded toward the half-finished squirrel drawing lying abandoned on the bench. "And your semblance gives you the ability to move around unseen. You'd make a wonderful addition to my tribe."

So that's why Raven was here. Jade didn't blink or even hesitate before answering. "Not interested."

"You won't even take the time to think about it?"

Jade snorted. "Why should I, when I can get everything I want out of a life as a Huntress? Earn a legal living. Get to enjoy relaxing now and then." She paused for a breath, then went on, "You only want me for my semblance, sounds like. And do I even need to mention the irony of you to telling me I should look for a 'less dangerous' career and then try to sell me on joining a bandit tribe?"

"And what about your drawing?" Raven demanded. "You enjoy it, I've watched you enough to know that. You won't have the time to do that if you're a Huntress."

"It's a hobby," Jade insisted. "Something I do in my spare time. Art won't put food on the table, 'less I decide to move to Mistral, and even then it's not a guarantee. Besides, when would I get to do any drawing if I joined you? Bandits don't exactly have _free time_ to mess around with art."

Raven looked about to say something else, but Jade didn't let her. "Go away, Raven. You came to try and recruit me. I gave you my answer. You have no reason to stick around." She picked up her drawing and stood up, intending to head back to the main campus. A moment later, she glanced back. Raven was nowhere to be seen, but something shimmered on the ground where she'd been standing a minute ago. Jade went over and picked it up, grumbling about whose brilliant idea it had been to give Raven the power of spring when _clearly_ winter would have suited her better, and found the object to be one of the bead necklaces Raven wore.

 _Why did she leave this?_

One obvious answer was that she wanted Jade to have it. But Raven wasn't sentimental like that. More likely, it was some kind of tracking device. _But what would be the point of that?_ If Raven had found her at Beacon, then she clearly had a strong enough bond with Jade to use her semblance to find her.

Jade tightened her fingers on the beads. She didn't typically wear jewelry, but maybe she could take the necklace apart and use the beads for something else… provided her suspicions were correct, and the beads were just that—beads.

With one more backwards glance to make absolutely certain Raven was gone, Jade started back toward the school, thinking as she went. Even if she'd turned Raven down flat, a part of her couldn't help but be curious. Leading a bandit tribe was usually a temporary thing, with some young upstart issuing a challenge that ended with them taking over the leadership after killing the old leader. The fact that Raven had managed to hold onto her leadership at her age was actually kind of impressive (not that Jade would _ever_ admit as much out loud). Although Raven's magic probably played a key role in that.

 _Not my business_. Jade forced herself to think of something else. She had one of the training rooms booked for an hour in order to spar against Scarletta. They'd only had the chance to fight against each other once before, in SAIJ's first year combat final, but Jade had mostly gone up against Tanso during that match, and the prospect of fighting the redheaded girl one on one was definitely appealing.

She highly doubted that it had been intentional, but Raven _had_ helped her with the assignment. Good thing too; it was due on Monday. After her bout with Scarletta, Jade resolved, she would buckle down and _finish_ the damn thing.

xxxxx

Indie cued up a call to her parents, propping her scroll on her lap. She'd been intending to call them ever since Peony told her she'd need her adoption papers in order to continue her search, but the revelation about Planis had thrown her off somewhat. Now she was back on track, ready to make the next step.

The call was answered almost immediately. Ilia was already smiling as her face appeared on the screen. "Indie! Oh, I'm so glad you're calling us. We have something we absolutely have to talk to you about!"

"Umm…" Indie hadn't been expecting that. "I had something important I needed to talk with you both about too."

Ruby appeared on the screen as well. The image shook for a moment, before settling into a somewhat distant view of the two of them. Indie could tell that the scroll had been set down on the dining room table, since she could see the refrigerator and the dining room window behind them.

"So… you first," Ruby insisted.

"Oh. Well, Peony says I need to have a copy of my adoption papers to find out what I need to know." Indie knew that Ruby kept meticulous records of important documents, both digital and hard copies, and her adoption papers were undoubtedly included in that category. "Can you send me a copy?"

"Sure!" Ilia answered immediately. "We'll send that over just as soon as we finish talking. But as for what _we_ needed to tell you…" She exchanged a quick glance with Ruby before continuing. "Indie… how would you feel about becoming a big sister?"

"Wait, _what_?!" Indie wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't _that_. "You're… thinking about having a biological child?"

Ruby hurriedly shook her head. "Please, the world isn't ready for a silver-eyed chameleon Faunus. See… last week we stopped over at the Meridian Children's Home to see if we could find your records." She stopped abruptly.

"Okaaay…" This line of thought made at least a bit more sense. Her parents had found a child they wanted to adopt.

Ilia leaned forward a bit. "We were completely stonewalled—looks like you'll have to get that info yourself—but we happened across two kids, a brother and sister. And… both of them have silver eyes."

"Oh." Indie immediately saw where this was going. Silver eyed people were extremely rare, having been hunted down due to the incredible powers they possessed. If her parents had found two more, and children no less… yes, they needed to be protected, trained, given a fighting chance at life. "If you want to take them in… well…" She giggled. "I'd love to be a big sister."

Ruby actually clapped her hands excitedly. "I was so hoping you'd say that!"

Ilia cast a fond smile over at Ruby's antics, before turning her attention back to Indie. "We've never seriously considered having more children before… but it's been very lonely around here without you these last couple years. And then these two just… appeared in front of us. It really does seem like it's meant to be."

"I'm… happy for you." Indie was still trying to process the whole thing; it would probably be a while before it really started to sink in.

"I know this is happening without much warning," Ruby continued. "It feels that way for us too. But it also feels _right_." She cut off abruptly. "Umm… so that's our news. Anything interesting going on in your life these days?"

Indie considered. The big thing right now was learning about Planis, but it wasn't her place to bring it up to her parents. On the other hand, though… she was pretty sure Blake wouldn't have wasted any time informing her teammates of the situation.

She decided to go for it, keeping it vague in case they didn't know already. "Well… we had some… let's say _interesting_ things happen the first weekend back. Turns out… one of our teachers has a secret."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "You're talking about Emerald." It wasn't a question.

For a split second, Indie toyed with the idea of denying it, before realizing how foolish that would be. Ruby clearly already knew. "Blake told you?"

"Yes she did." Ruby rolled her eyes. "She was extremely vocal on the subject. I'm sure Weiss and Yang know by now too. What I want to know is… does it bother you?"

"No." Indie had given the matter a lot of thought. It _didn't_ bother her, surprisingly enough, finding out that one of her teachers was a former enemy of her family. It seemed simple enough: they'd been students at Beacon for two whole years now, so if she'd wanted to do anything to harm them, she would have done it already. "From what I can see, she really likes being a teacher. And I like _having_ her as a teacher. She's been doing doctor-y type stuff for more than twenty years, and she's really good at teaching us about it. Field Medicine isn't my best subject, but I think I'd be doing even worse with another teacher. Does… does it bother _you_?"

Her parents were silent for a long moment. Ilia finally spoke up. "People can change, given the chance and the motivation to do so." She snuck a quick glance at Ruby. "And I know that from personal experience. If Emerald has turned her back on Salem—and if she's been in the medical field for twenty years, then it certainly does look that way—then I don't see any problem."

Ruby took over. "Indie… if you are sure you're okay with this… then we'll trust your judgement." Her expression flickered for a moment. "Glynda clearly knows about Emerald too, if Blake's rant was anything to go by."

Indie decided that it was probably better to play dumb than admit to eavesdropping on the Headmistress. At least for now. "Nora's in on it too. I remember bumping into them in Vale the end of our first year."

Ruby and Ilia traded a look. Ruby slowly replied, "If Nora knows about this, then there's no way Ren doesn't. Looks like we'll have to confront them about this later."

The conversation devolved into small talk from there, before Ruby pointed out the time and sheepishly remarked that they should let Indie get back to her studying. Indie said goodbye to her parents and ended the call. She had a lot to think about.

Chief among her thoughts was the fact that after all this time, she was going to be a big sister! A giddy feeling welled up inside her. _This is so exciting! It's kind of a shame I won't be around much… but still!_ A huge, silly grin spread across her face.

It was a good thing she'd already finished the homework she'd planned to do today. For the next several minutes, she simply sat on her bed, hugging her pillow and grinning madly at the new revelation that the day had brought her.

 **This was probably the most difficult chapter I've ever written. But it was also one of the most fun, so you know what? I'll take it.**

 **The scene with Raven was** _ **supposed**_ **to happen about ten chapters ago. Decided to change on a whim and I'm glad I did; having Raven show up during the festival probably wouldn't have ended well. So I moved it back. And then moved it back again, and then some more until it wound up in** _ **this**_ **chapter. Plot bunnies, my dudes; they're a blessing and a curse.**

 **Please review, it would make me so happy!**


	34. New Ventures

**I do not own RWBY.**

 **New Ventures**

Spending the day in Vale was _exactly_ what Skye needed.

She'd mostly made up with her team since last week, but she was still walking on eggshells around them a bit. Not to mention, she wasn't sure about the source of their argument in the first place. Indie had been quick to point out that if Planis _had_ been up to anything nefarious, she'd had plenty of time to act on it without them any the wiser, and hadn't. While Skye had to admit that Indie had a valid point, she still didn't think they should be so quick to trust somebody who had a history with their families and who had kept so much from them. So she would keep her opinions to herself and keep a careful watch on the professor in the meantime.

A soft breeze from ahead blew a loose strand of hair into her face, reminding her of her actual purpose behind coming into Vale today. Hanging a left at the corner, she found herself in front of Custom Combat. Grateful to see the big _Open_ sign on the door (the hours were listed online, but she had no idea if Coco closed the store while out on missions), she made a beeline for the entrance.

The shop was pretty much dead. Skye didn't think there were any employees present, and was starting to panic, thinking she'd misread the sign, when a slight movement by the back counter caught her eye. She hadn't quite registered that it was a _person_ when they spoke. "Schnee, you're back."

"Oh, hi Coco." Skye stared for a minute. The shop owner looked deliberately casual, with her booted feet on the counter as she worked with something on her lap.

"What can I do ya for?" Coco asked lazily.

This was it, then. "Do you do makeovers?"

A slow grin spread across Coco's face, as she set down the project she'd been working on and actually removed her shades. "Kid, you just said the magic words. What is it you're lookin' for?"

"Um…" Skye hedged. "A new hairstyle, and maybe a new dress and some makeup?"

Coco looked her over critically. "Well, let's start with the hair. The salon next door moved in just a few months ago, and they're doing great." She stood, striding over to where Skye was standing. "Well, don't just stand there. I thought you wanted a makeover?"

"Wha— You mean right now?" Skye hadn't thought it would be this easy.

Coco raised and lowered one shoulder, grinning as she flipped the _Open_ sign on the door to _Be back in ten!_ "No time like the present, am I right?"

"Uh… Right." Skye followed Coco out the door.

Coco yanked the door to the salon open without the slightest hesitation and strode right in. The single attendant on duty in the middle of a weekday startled at the sound of heels on the floor. "Ms. Adel! You decided to take me up on my offer?" Her nametag read Blossom.

"Not for me," Coco answered, winking. "But I got a mini Huntress here who wants a new do." She jabbed her thumb toward Skye. "You up for it?"

Blossom looked Skye over for a moment, tilting her head, then broke into a smile. "I have a couple styles that'll look great. Here…" She passed her scroll over to Skye, which was open to an album of various hairstyles. "See if you like any of those."

Skye flicked through the pictures, discarding a few immediately, before handing the scroll back. "I like this one."

The stylist gave the image a glance and nodded. "No problem. That'll look fantastic on you."

She disappeared into the back room for a moment, leaving Skye alone with the ever-confident Coco. The fashionable Huntress was still eyeing the heiress with a scheming look. "You sure I can't talk you into trying out some heels? I even have a pair of silver ones right now."

Skye shook her head emphatically. "No heels. I don't want to have to adjust my fighting style just to accommodate a new pair of shoes."

"Meh, I can't really argue with that." Coco pretended to be annoyed, but Skye could see her hiding a crooked smile.

The stylist had returned from the back room. "Miss, if you're ready, please come this way."

Coco grinned at Skye. "Just come on back over when you're ready and I'll see what I can do."

Skye nodded. "Thanks Coco." Pulling the pins from her braid, she let her long hair fall where it may. After a morning restricted into its usual style, it had several waves in it and appeared noticeably shorter than it actually was… though still longer than she'd decided she wanted it. Raking her fingers through it in an attempt to make it lie flat, she noted in the mirror that the blue streaks, the source of her name, had faded somewhat. The streaks on the left were still vibrant, but the ones on the right were nearly indistinguishable from the Schnee-white surrounding them. It wasn't the first time she'd noticed, but Skye still wasn't sure what to think about it. At any rate, she didn't have time to dwell on it as Blossom hovered behind her with a comb and a pair of scissors. "Whenever you're ready!"

xxxxx

Jade had finished her Dust reading for Professor Waters, and decided to take a break from academics. She still had an hour before she needed to leave to meet up with Scarletta; they'd only gotten to fight a couple times so far, since RUST were now fourth-years and were away on missions so frequently.

Pulling the string of beads out of her belt purse, she studied them again. She'd managed to confirm that they were just beads, no sort of electronics involved, which she'd half expected, but it still baffled her. Why had Raven given her this?

Maybe she would have worn the necklace to the dance if she'd had it then, but she'd decided what she was going to do with it now.

Retrieving her sewing kit from her travel gear (which she still hadn't unpacked from the break), Jade seated herself at her desk. The afternoon light streaming in the window would be ideal for this project. Unfolding the small kit and pulling her scissors out, she carefully cut the string and placed the end into the small glass jar sitting on her desk, letting the beads slide off and collect in a pile. Sewing them onto her purse and jacket would make for a slightly more iconic look than what she already had. Raven probably wouldn't be happy about it, but who cared what Raven thought. She'd given the necklace to Jade, so the beads were Jade's to do with as she pleased.

Jade threaded the needle and got to work. Sewing wasn't her favorite thing in the world, but she was actually a competent seamstress. At the very least, better than her mother. Yang knew how to sew, but hated it with a passion; Taiyang had taught Jade how to sew when she was only five or six in order to keep up with mending on the road, since there was nobody else to do it.

The pile of beads inside the jar slowly shrank as she worked, finally reaching just the last few. She was reaching to retrieve another bead when the door banged open, startling her into knocking the jar off the desk. It shattered with a loud smash.

Jade looked up into a pair of startled blue eyes. "Dammit, Skye! Now there's broken glass all over the floor! I hope you're planning to help me clean this up."

Skye sighed. "Yeah, sure." Pale blue washed over her as she activated her aura, before she reached for a large chunk of glass at her feet. Jade did the same, leaf-green flickering over her, and the two picked up most of the bigger shards. With those set neatly in a pile, Skye carefully set down a black glyph on the floor. Jade saw a number of tiny slivers of glass fly toward Skye's open hand as gravity pulled them in. Once finished, Skye padded into the bathroom to toss the smaller shards while Jade followed with the larger chunks.

"Well, that was a thing," Skye remarked. Jade hadn't been paying attention before, but now she got her first good look at her partner's appearance.

Skye had traded her high-low dress for a new one that was thigh length all around; her shorts could be seen peeking out. It had a shallow V-neck, a thick silver belt, and royal blue stitching on the hem that contrasted nicely with the pale blue of the dress itself.

An even bigger change than the dress… was her hair. Rather than the severe braided style Skye had worn for so many years, now the white strands fell loosely to about six inches past her shoulders, with two chin-length locks framing her face in the front. The new style emphasized the blue streaks, which Jade realized were mostly only visible on one side now. _When did that happen?_

"Ahh… how long have you been planning that?" Jade asked, nodding toward her partner's changed appearance.

Skye rolled her eyes. "A few months. I felt like trying something new, all right?" Her tone was strangely defensive.

Jade shrugged. "I'm not judging. It looks good." _Good_ being the highest compliment she could pay to someone about their appearance, since she barely paid attention to styles or trends as long as they were comfortable. "Is that what you spent the day in Vale doing?"

"Not the whole day, but pretty much," Skye answered. "I got lucky—Coco was in and was able to help me out." She pulled at her hem. "It'll take some getting used to, though."

"Yeah, I bet it will." Jade looked over her own handiwork; compared to her partner's new look, it suddenly didn't seem that impressive.

xxxxx

Aurum had finished with her half of the flying Grimm project several days ago. She knew Indie was almost done with her part of the project too—it was due in less than a week, which was why she was so startled to stumble upon a study section in the library, with half of CROM and half of AZSR working on the same project.

"Are you sure that's what they look like?" Cerulea was asking her partner. "The ones we found in this book look completely different!" She pointed to an illustration in said book to underscore her point.

Esme shrugged. "How should I know?! You think I've ever seen one in person?"

"Hey guys," Aurum greeted them. "What's up?"

Cerulea scowled. "What's _up_ is this stupid Grimm Studies assignment. I swear the whole thing's rigged— _you_ got an easy topic 'cause Belladonna's your _mom_. But _we_ were assigned marine Grimm. I'm from freaking _Vacuo_ , and Esme grew up in the mountains; what the hell do we know about Grimm who live in the ocean?"

"We'll trade if you want!" Rue yelled from the other table, sounding uncharacteristically annoyed. Zelty tried to shush his partner, but to no avail. "We drew _desert_ Grimm out of that stupid hat, perfect topic for two people from _Atlas_!" The sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable.

"Whoa, hold up!" Aurum protested. "You seriously think the assignment's rigged? After the _completely random_ topic selection? Seriously, we drew ours _last_ ; that'd be a real neat trick, to make everyone else _not_ pick that specific one!"

"No, we don't _actually_ think it's rigged," Esme grumbled.

"Speak for yourself." That was Cerulea.

Esme ignored her partner. "The topic assignment _was_ completely random." Blake had placed six slips of paper in a hat and shaken them; she'd then had the students draw their topics in alphabetical order by team name, starting with the partner pair that included the team leader. Of course that meant SAIJ was dead last. Aubergine and Saphed had gone first, receiving venomous Grimm as their topic. If Aurum remembered correctly, Rhoda and Kage had gotten pack Grimm, creatures that tended to travel in groups. "She's just annoyed 'cause our team's already the lowest ranked in our year. We wanted to change that." She glanced over at Rue. "And didn't you live in Menagerie for three years?"

"Four," Rue corrected her. "And so?" She shrugged, more violently than was strictly necessary. "Most of the Grimm on the island avoided Kuo Kuana; it's not like I ever saw any of them. The only Grimm I really ever had run-ins with were the ones in the ocean. Besides, I was twelve we moved back to Atlas; that was almost seven years ago!"

Cerulea scowled down at her textbook again. "Wish we _could_ trade. I'd take desert Grimm over ocean Grimm any day." With a sigh, she flipped to another page. "Have we talked about these yet?"

Aurum looked them over critically. "You know, there's no rule that says you can't _assist_ your classmates with their projects. Where's everyone else? Maybe they can help."

Zelty shuddered. "Aubergine and Saphed are fooling around with papier-mâché in our room right now, that I _think_ is supposed to be an Arachnopod. At least, last I saw, it had a bunch of legs. I'm not about to get involved in that."

"Papier-mâché?" Aurum was impressed; that was actually a really good project idea. Blake hadn't given the teams any real limitations on what their projects could be, other than pinning them all with a steely glare and ordering them to _not_ make her watch a song and dance routine. Skye and Jade had gone for a slide show, and Indie liked writing, so she and Aurum had (rather unoriginally) decided to do a poster and report, but it looked like some of their classmates were getting more creative.

Cerulea shrugged. "Rhoda and Kage are done with theirs already. There's different types of pack Grimm in almost every kind of terrain in Remnant; I don't think they had too much trouble. They actually decided to try and compare different famous art pieces that feature pack Grimm."

Aurum couldn't help the incredulous expression that spread across her face. Cerulea caught it and, despite her irritation, actually cracked a smile. "Ro's idea."

That… well, it at least made more sense than it being Kage's idea. The wolf Faunus was a skilled combatant, arguably the most talented fighter on his team, but academics weren't his strong suit. Aurum was guessing Cerulea had had a chat with him, and let him know in no uncertain terms that he needed to buckle down and do his fair share. CROM had been getting some… negative attention after losing in the first round of the tournament; no wonder Cerulea wanted to do well on this project. If it bumped their grades up a bit, they wouldn't be so easily discredited.

"Well… good luck, I guess," Aurum offered. "And… one thing: Mom is definitely not making this any easier for our team than for anyone else. She doesn't do that." _And_ , she added silently, _she's already on thin ice with Goodwitch. She wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her job._

xxxxx

Indie stared at the mission boards, hoping for something interesting. Third-years and above were allowed to take partner missions, rather than being restricted to full-team missions, but Skye had adamantly vetoed the idea when Aurum had brought it up earlier.

"Hey, how about this?" Jade pointed to a listing labeled _Escort_. "There's been a lot of incursions at this point of the wall lately; the Council wants somebody to try and take care of the Grimm while they seal it up."

"Looks good to me." Aurum punctuated her agreement by flicking Aurora Blaze open in her hands.

Indie was _dying_ to get out of Beacon—what with all the academic assignments they'd had to deal with the last couple weeks, plus the spillover from Skye's hostility toward the rest of her team earlier in the semester, the school was starting to feel a bit… stifling. If the rest of her team's more-restless-than-usual fidgeting was any indication, they felt the same way she did.

Skye looked over the specifics of the mission. "Sounds like a plan."

After accepting the mission and heading toward the airship landing pads, Indie settled in to familiarize herself with the task. There was evidently a Creep-made tunnel burrowing _through_ the city wall at ground level, which had allowed a number of Grimm to enter the kingdom recently. Most of the incursions had ended with no casualties, but in the last week a couple had killed some civilians before being overpowered.

The Vale Council had immediately and unanimously agreed that it couldn't ignore such a threat, and ordered a team of workers to seal the tunnel, but the workers had refused unless they were granted Huntsmen to watch their backs. Since they would be working outside the protection of the city walls and had little to no training in defending against Grimm, the Council had honored the request and passed it along to Beacon to add to the mission boards.

The team of workers had obviously been informed beforehand that a team had accepted their mission; they were ready and waiting when SAIJ arrived at the city gates. The foreman— _forewoman_ , Indie corrected herself; the person wearing the white hard hat was clearly female—had a strict no-nonsense attitude. She gave her name as Clover before turning and quickly performing basic introductions for the rest of her crew.

Skye responded in kind, naming each of her teammates. Indie saw clear recognition on the faces of the crew members at Skye's name, and again at Aurum's. She wondered why for a minute before remembering that, duh, her partner was the Tournament Champion.

The crew had only been waiting for their mission to be accepted; their machines were ready to move, and Clover offered the team a ride to the site. It must have been farther from the gate than Indie had originally thought, since Skye had said they'd be able to walk it with no problem.

Skye and Jade swung themselves inside the cab of one of the trucks, while Aurum hopped into the flatbed. With no room left, Indie ended up in the cab of the other truck, with Clover at the wheel. She sized Indie up as they waited for the gate to open. "Hey, your leader said your last name is Amitola-Rose, yeah? You any relation to Ruby Rose, the Grimm Reaper?"

" _Red_ Reaper," Indie corrected her. Ruby had despised being saddled with the title of Grimm Reaper; she'd protested that there were nearly a dozen Huntsmen in recorded history who'd been given that particular honorific. Red Reaper had been the compromise. "She hates being called Grimm Reaper. And yeah, she's my mom."

"I've heard both. Pretty impressive, that; not all Huntsmen have titles, must be pretty damn good if she has more than one." Clover eyed her shrewdly. "Some pretty big shoes to fill there."

Indie shrugged noncommittally. The gate began grinding open before the conversation could continue, and the crew of machines began to crank up their motors to exit the city as she considered the topic that Clover had brought up.

It was true that not all Huntsmen had titles. Weiss and Blake didn't have any official titles, being better known for their affiliations with the Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang respectively. Some Huntsmen only had regional titles—Yang was most widely known as the Golden Flame, but in her travels had acquired half a dozen other titles as well, none of which were very recognizable outside of the region that had given her that title in the first place.

 _Will I ever have my own title?_

Indie couldn't help considering various potential titles for herself as the crew took the better part of an hour to reach the construction site. The place didn't look like much, just a hole in the wall that was just big enough for a single Grimm to enter at a time. There were some lumber scraps lying around, presumably the temporary solution to the intrusions, and a number of freshly cut tree stumps creating something of a clearing.

The dozen or so crew members proceeded to set up caution cones around the site, which Indie found ridiculous. They were outside the wall, surrounded by trees; it wasn't like they had to worry about traffic. But the cones were evidently standard procedure, even for something like this.

Indie tuned out most of the crew's chatter going on as she focused on the wall. She'd never climbed something as high as the kingdom border wall without a harness before… the idea of free-climbing something like that was extremely tempting.

A swat on her shoulder brought her back to reality. Aurum snapped Aurora Blaze closed. "Hey, come on. Pay attention. We're here to kill things and keep the workers safe, not climb the wall."

"I think I can do both," Indie retorted, grinning. "Especially if I just climb up to there." She pointed to one of the lookout platforms, about a third of the way up. These weren't all that common, since the border walls were meant to be accessed from _inside_ , but it hadn't always been that way. The walls had been built up gradually, every decade adding another ten or twenty feet, and not all of the old watch platforms had been removed.

Aurum eyed it critically. "There's no way that thing is still safe."

"Ugh, fine," Indie grumbled. "I'll just climb a tree instead."

"No you will _not_."

That was Skye, who had joined them a little ways away from the construction zone. "Please, we all need to be on our best behavior. There are people counting on us to keep them safe out here; we need to be professional. That means no tree climbing—" accompanied with a severe look at Indie, "—no goofing off—" another severe look, this time aimed at Aurum, "—and seriously, no pranks." That last was directed at Jade, who had joined them without Indie noticing. "I still haven't gotten all the glitter out of our carpet from last week."

Aurum and Indie both cringed. Skye had barely managed to toss Jade's little glitter bomb away from her in time, which ended up covering the rug in glitter instead of the heiress. While that was certainly better than the alternative—Skye might have actually killed her partner if the thing had gone off in her face—having that mess all over the floor meant that the team had been tracking the sparkly bits everywhere for the last week. Indie was now very certain that she could happily go the rest of her life without seeing another flake of glitter.

Jade's mouth twitched, but she thankfully didn't give any more indication of finding the situation amusing than that. Skye, distracted by a shout from the burly explosives expert, didn't notice.

xxxxx

Indie sighted down the arrow and loosed. Her projectile embedded itself in the Beowolf's eye.

Off to her left, Skye neatly bisected another Beowolf, while Jade smashed her gravity-enhanced tonfa onto the skull of a third one. This was the last of the latest wave of Grimm that had tried to attack the construction workers.

Aurum dusted off her weapons and reattached them to her wrists. Indie reached underneath her cloak and placed Crescent Ranger in its holster, next to her quiver, before going to retrieve her arrows.

"Nice work!" called the crew's forklift driver. Indie had learned all of their names by now; he was called Dusty, although she was still unsure whether that was his real name or a nickname. His skills weren't needed at the moment, and instead of cowering behind the line and letting SAIJ take care of the Grimm, he'd snatched up a pitchfork and used it to keep one of the Beowolves at bay until Indie had the chance to shoot it. "Almost makes me wish I'd gone to Beacon!"

Indie tried not to giggle. Dusty was the friendliest of the crew, and the youngest as well; she hadn't asked, but he couldn't have been older than twenty-five. She'd be lying if she tried to deny that he was very good-looking, between his messy brown hair, wide grin, and green eyes that she had yet to see less than cheerful. The fact that he had his aura unlocked and at least a little bit of combat training certainly didn't hurt either.

She wasn't going to try to make it go anywhere. Indie was trying to keep her interactions with him professional; the last thing she needed was for the casual relationship her team had formed with Dusty to become awkward because she'd tried to make a move on him.

Dusty held out his hand to high-five the team as they regrouped, but anything he'd been about to say was cut off by a shout from his boss.

"All right!" Clover was yelling. "We're done here! Let's pack it up and get our butts back to the city!" A number of cheers rang out at the news, but quieted as she continued. "Xiao Long, no need for you to help out with the cooking tonight. You just got done fighting a Grimm herd; if you can hold out 'til we get back to Vale, dinner's on us."

"Oh, we couldn't—" Skye started to protest. Clover cut her off with a raised hand.

"Sure you can. Consider it thanks for a job well done!" Clover was clearly not going to take no for an answer. Indie wasn't surprised when Skye's attempts at further protest were ignored.

Jade shrugged, clearly a little disappointed that she wouldn't get the chance to do some more cooking. She'd helped with all of the meals while they'd been out her the last few days, simply because she had done so much cooking on the road that it was second nature to her, and she enjoyed it.

Skye kept one eye on the tree line as the construction site was packed up. Clover, after making sure all the machinery was powered down, strode over to the team leader. Indie wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but the two weren't making any attempt to keep their voices down, and the sound was carrying.

"So yeah, we're done out here," Clover was saying. "Impressive, really. I thought it'd take at least a week, but you kids really don't mess around. Usually jobs out here take twice as long as inside the kingdom 'cause we gotta deal with Grimm wrecking the place or messing with our equipment, but I'd be surprised if we got so much as a scratch this time. You really earned your dinner tonight." She shook her head as Skye opened her mouth again. "Nope. Don't bother trying to weasel out of it. After everything you've done? It's my treat. Really, it's the least I can do."

 **I finished drafting this chapter** _ **literally the day before**_ **I watched the episode where the Ace Ops were introduced. Went back and forth on whether or not I could still get away with naming the forewoman Clover. Obviously, I decided to go for it in the end.**

 **Also wanted to give a big thank-you to echo4191, who gave me my fiftieth follow last chapter! Seriously, I never imagined that I'd even get** _ **close**_ **to fifty followers when I started writing this.**

 **Happy holidays, whatever you may celebrate! And please review, I love getting feedback!**


	35. Pivotal Moments

**A new year, and with it, a new chapter for you all!**

 **I only own my original characters featured in this story.**

 **Pivotal Moments**

Jade chomped down on her juicy burger, trying to savor it but too hungry to take her time. This burger joint was one she'd been to before and knew was fantastic. She'd very nearly cheered out loud when Clover mentioned the name of the place she wanted to take them. When Skye tried to protest, _yet again_ , that they couldn't let Clover buy them food, Jade stepped on her foot, hard. Skye was too busy glaring at her to remember her objections, and the rest of her team and the crew had seated themselves before she could collect herself.

"Hey, Belladonna, pass the mustard, will ya?" asked the explosives expert, Sterling.

Aurum made as if to toss the bottle at him. Skye lunged for it. "No you don't! It's fine at Beacon, but we're in public!" She tugged the bottle out of her teammate's hand and passed it to Sterling herself.

"Ugh, you're such a killjoy," Aurum grumbled. She'd gotten grilled tuna instead of a beef patty and inhaled it, along with her dinner roll. Now she was sneakily attempting to reach over and steal some of Jade's fries.

Jade smacked her teammate's hand without even setting down her burger. Aurum yelped and pulled back, giving her cousin a dirty look. Skye was too far away, and Indie had already polished off her own meal; Jade smirked as she realized the Faunus was out of luck. Unless she decided to try stealing from the crew, but Jade didn't think Aurum would do that since she didn't know them well enough yet.

The rest of the meal went on in the same vein, all of them jubilant that they were back inside the city so soon. Skye insisted on leaving the tip once they were finished, and Clover seemed to recognize that the heiress was just as stubborn as she was, because she only put up a token protest before acquiescing.

Construction workers and Huntresses parted ways outside the restaurant. Clover wished them all well, as did the rest of the crew. Jade noticed Dusty making a point of shaking Indie's hand and thanking her, something that was not offered to the other team members. She narrowed her eyes with a tiny smirk on her face. _Huh, didn't realize_ _ **that**_ _was a thing._ She'd _definitely_ have to tease her cousin about it later.

Aurum was yawning hugely as they all parked themselves at the shuttle stop. Jade was used to roughing it (and this mission barely counted), but judging by her teammates' expressions, they disagreed. _That_ would have to change if they wanted to be successful Huntresses. Camping out came with the territory. Thinking it over, she realized that they'd done a bunch of pretty cushy missions the last couple years. _That_ _ **can't**_ _be allowed to continue…_ She'd have to insist they take more missions into the wilderness this year than they had in the past.

The mood was somewhat subdued as they rode back to Beacon. Skye made them all wait as she marked their mission as completed on the mission boards. Jade tapped her foot impatiently; she was seriously looking forward to graduating. Licensed Huntsmen had the option of downloading a special Mission app to their scrolls, which allowed them to accept missions without needing to physically come to the school to look over the mission boards. Students, unfortunately, had no other choice but to use the mission boards, since a Huntsman or Huntress was required to enter their license number in order to download the app.

They'd already eaten, so with no need to go to the dining hall, Jade led the way back to the dorms, taking advantage of her longer legs. She settled into her bunk with little to no cares for what her teammates were doing, and was asleep almost instantly, not even caring that the others would probably tease her about snoring later.

Jade wasn't surprised to be the first one up in the morning. Her three teammates were still passed out on their bunks and looking like they hadn't moved since they'd first crawled into bed. Jade knew the feeling. She quickly showered and dressed, then made a beeline for the dining hall. Those burgers had been a _long_ time ago, and she suspected that the rest of her team would be awake soon, if for no other reason than their growling stomachs.

As she entered the dining hall, Jade noticed an odd sort of buzz in the air, one that she'd seen before but not in a while. Usually it meant that something big had just happened, and given that a bunch of first- and second-years were busy fawning over CROM at the moment, it wasn't too difficult to figure out who was responsible.

Jade piled a plate high with eggs and potatoes while she watched Kage basking in the attention he was receiving from the underclassmen. The wolf Faunus was doing more than a little preening. Jade plunked herself down next to Scarletta. The redheaded girl had her mouth full, but managed to wave a quick greeting with her fork.

"So what's the deal? Why's everyone all amped up?"

Scarletta made a noticeable effort to chew her food faster, then swallowed and answered, "You haven't heard?"

Jade shrugged. "We were outside the kingdom on a mission for most of the last week?"

"Meh, fair enough." Scarletta took another giant bite from the stack of waffles on the plate in front of her, then went on to explain. "Councilwoman Ferris's son was kidnapped last week. The perps were trying to make her cooperate with them by holding him hostage, but I guess they're not the smartest criminals in Vale since they sent their ransom demand through the CCT network instead of some way that couldn't be traced. So the investigators were able to uncover their hideout pretty easy, and listed it as a Search and Rescue mission." She paused to take another big bite.

Jade let out a low whistle, impressed as she was pretty sure she could see where this was going. Politics had never interested her overmuch. She was technically a citizen of Vale—she'd been born in the kingdom and her mother was a citizen—but she'd never had more than a passing familiarity with how the kingdom's governing body worked. She mentally ran through what little she _did_ know.

There was no set limit on how long Council members could remain in office. Councilwoman Ferris had been on the Council for almost twenty years, since she was supposedly charismatic and authoritative enough that the citizens of Vale had continued to vote her back into office every two years. She'd been serving longer than any other current Council member, and had even been named the official Speaker of the Council a few years back, making her second in rank to the Head Councilman, who was officially the most powerful person in Vale. _Un_ officially, of course, the headmasters of the academies wielded nearly as much power as the Council did, more in some situations.

Scarletta continued, "So yeah. CROM took the mission, and they came through in a big way. Managed to break into the hideout without any of the perps catching them, and rescued the kid before rounding them all up. There was a huge piece on VNN yesterday morning with Ferris meeting CROM and shaking their hands and stuff."

"Nice." Jade looked over at CROM with new respect. "They deserve it, you know."

"You won't miss the spotlight?" Scarletta asked, pushing her empty plate away.

"No. Way," Jade answered. "SAIJ has had the spotlight long enough." Long enough that people were becoming noticeably resentful of them. It had been one thing when SAIJ was simply the highest-ranking team in their year, but it had gotten worse after the Vytal Festival. Jade did _not_ like the feeling. "Believe me, they're welcome to it."

xxxxx

Indie wandered down the streets of Vale. She'd had a few errands to run in town, but she'd already taken care of them and she could admit she was stalling. The two bags hanging off her arm were her day's acquisitions: a new book on the potential of solar-powered technology, and a collection of Dust to replenish her supply.

But her primary purpose behind her little day trip was to visit the Meridian Children's Home and find her adoption records. Her parents had made good on their promise and sent her a digital copy of her adoption papers, and she was determined to find what she could.

The orphanage was only a few blocks from her current location. Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she began walking that way with purpose in her step and a determined expression.

Of course, she was shaken out of her concentration by something in the window of a toy shop only a block later. She stared in amused disbelief as a grin slowly spread over her face. _There's no way… this is just perfect!_

Another small detour couldn't hurt, she decided. Not for an opportunity like this. She turned into the shop.

An employee greeted her as she entered. "Are you looking for anything special today?"

"Actually…" Indie began, "I'm interested in that figurine in the window. How much?" Not that it mattered; she'd decided to buy it as soon as she'd seen it.

The employee grinned, naming the price and then adding, "That's one of our most popular sellers lately." He picked up the small figurine, letting Indie get a closer look. The black cat ears and gold fans made it obvious who it was supposed to be, but just in case there was any doubt, the base was inscribed with the words _Aurum Belladonna: Fifty-second Vytal Tournament Champion_. Indie wasn't about to pass up the chance to embarrass her partner, and fate had just handed her an absolutely _golden_ opportunity. She cringed internally at her own bad pun.

"You a Huntress?" the employee asked conversationally as he wrapped up the figurine.

"Huh?" How had he managed to figure that out?

The associate nodded toward her shoulder, where one end of Crescent Ranger was visible, poking out from beneath her cape. "Not a lot of people walk around Vale armed. Mostly just military and Huntsmen… and if you'll excuse me for saying, you don't exactly look like a military type."

"Oh." Indie felt a little foolish for not realizing that as she handed over her credit card. "Yeah. Team SAIJ, Beacon." She tapped her purchase. "She's actually my partner; I can't _wait_ to show her this."

Detour over, she resumed her trek to her original destination. A couple blocks later, the squealing of children informed her that she'd arrived. Pausing on the sidewalk for a minute, she looked over the building. It was fairly modern; she'd guess it wasn't any more than thirty years old, with a large fenced-in yard full of young children who were playing without a care in the world.

Taking a deep breath, Indie stepped forward, toward the entrance. A woman who looked to be in her late forties stopped her just inside. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to be armed in here."

Indie reached for Crescent Ranger, then hesitated. "I'm a Huntress." She hoped that the title—while not technically accurate just yet—would allow her to keep hold of her baby. She hated being unarmed—one of the reasons Aurum and Jade had been so insistent on her at least _trying_ to learn some hand-to-hand tricks—even though she knew how unlikely it was that she'd be attacked and have to defend herself in a place like this. But the woman shook her head.

"Huntress or not, nobody is allowed to carry weapons on the premises. I promise we will take good care of them, and you may have them back as soon as you are ready to leave."

"I—Okay." Indie very reluctantly handed over Crescent Ranger and her quiver to the woman, who nodded.

"Thank you. Now, what is it I can do for you?"

This was it. Indie bit her lip, then looked the woman square in the eye and said, "I want to know who my birth parents are. I was adopted through here when I was two, and I want to see my records."

"Of course!" The woman held out a hand, motioning toward one of the side hallways. "Come right this way, please."

Indie began following, and tried not to twitch when the woman stopped to lock her weapons in a small room off the hall. "My name is Cerise, by the way. Back this way; we keep all the records we have for every child that passes through our doors. Our archive is completely digital, and backed up on three different servers so the odds of losing anything permanently are essentially zero."

"How many children do you have here?" Indie asked, trying to make casual conversation and hoping she didn't look too nervous.

"It depends," Cerise replied. "I've been here nearly ten years, and there are usually at least a dozen, what with the Grimm and all." Her expression grew a bit distant. "At times, we've had no more than four."

They had reached what looked like an office. Cerise tapped on the open door, then poked her head inside. "Mist, we have a young lady here who would like to see her adoption records."

Mist was a man who looked to be around sixty. He took a look at Indie for a long moment, then simply asked, "Name?"

"Uh—Indigo Amitola-Rose." Indie quickly cued up her Beacon student ID on her scroll, showing it to the two and hoping Cerise wouldn't call her out on claiming the title of Huntress when she was still a student. Mist carefully glanced over the top of his glasses to read the information; Indie could practically see the gears in his head turning as he checked off name, date of birth, and all the other information that Beacon required their IDs to have but that probably weren't super relevant to an orphanage archivist. Like weapon name and type.

"May I see your adoption papers?" Mist requested politely.

Indie turned her scroll back around so she could see the screen. Dismissing the ID, she called up the digital copy that she'd downloaded, then showed the device to them again.

"Thank you, miss." Cerise broke into a wide smile as Mist adjusted his glasses and turned back to his desktop monitor. He typed for a few moments before leaning back in his chair. "Ah, here it is. May I have your scroll for a moment?"

Indie handed it over. Mist placed it on the terminal and tapped a few more keys on the keyboard. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until an electronic _ding_ sounded, indicating the successful transfer of information. Mist retrieved her scroll and handed it back to her. "Here you are, miss. Good luck; I hope your search is successful."

Cerise walked Indie back to the entrance. "Is there anything else? I do hope you can find out who your birth parents are, but is there anything else I can do for you right now?"

"Um…" Indie blurted it out before she could lose her nerve. "Could I see the Harmon kids before I go?"

"Oh…" Cerise's face fell. "I'm sorry, dear, but they're not here anymore. They were adopted just last week."

Indie was taken aback. "That was… fast. I thought my parents wanted me to meet them first."

Cerise eyed her sideways. "You think it was your parents who adopted them?"

Indie shrugged. "I know they were planning to." She hesitated a minute. "I don't suppose you could tell me? Or would that go against whatever confidentiality thing you have here?" Obviously there was _some_ kind of confidentiality clause, otherwise she would have been able to get her records without having to come here in person. She wasn't surprised when Cerise shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not permitted to give out that information."

"Yeah, I figured." Indie wasn't too bothered. "I'll find out soon enough, I guess."

She retrieved her weapons from the locked room where they'd been kept for her, said goodbye to Cerise, and walked quickly back to the bus stop to wait for the Beacon student shuttle. She'd been gone from the school longer than she'd intended; the setting sun made that obvious, and a glance at her scroll informed her that it was after seven. _So much for getting any homework done today._ There were still a few minutes before the shuttle arrived. Indie was too nervous about what she'd find to look at the documents she'd gotten from Mist, so instead she opened up the bag she'd gotten from the toy shop and fished out the little figurine, grinning deviously the whole time.

 _I wonder how long it'll take Aurum to notice this…_

xxxxx

Aurum didn't know how long she'd been walking past Indie's figurine collection before she spotted the new addition to it. She had an audience when she pulled the small statuette from the shelf and waved it in Indie's face.

"Where did you get this?!"

Indie looked up from her Aura Theory reading and grinned cheekily. "In town. Last weekend. It was in a toy store and I knew I had to have it."

"And you didn't _tell_ me about it?" Aurum demanded. She was half offended that her partner hadn't shown her the figurine right away, and half annoyed with herself for not noticing it sooner. She studied the inscription at the base of the figurine. "Are they even allowed to do something like this? Don't they need my permission? I never signed any release forms or anything."

Indie rolled her turquoise eyes expressively. "Yes, you did, Aurum. We _all_ did—it was one of the forms we had to fill out in order to enter the tournament. Remember those?"

"It was— That— Those forms—" Aurum spluttered for a moment. Indie fixed her with a long-suffering look.

"Are you saying you didn't bother to actually _read_ the forms before you signed them?" Indie answered her own question. "Of course you didn't. That would require you to actually _think_ about something before you jump right in."

"Hey!" Aurum was more offended than annoyed now. Sure, she was a little impulsive at times, but she wasn't _that_ bad!

Skye, who had watched the whole scene with interest, broke in before Aurum could continue her retort. "I just checked out the website. They've made… more than just the one."

"Huh?" Jade leaned over to see. Aurum turned, craning her neck to see what Skye was showing her partner on her scroll. Jade let out a chuckle before opening up her own scroll, tapping it against Skye's so she could follow the link without having to search for it. Aurum, frowning, held out the scroll in her hand so she could do the same, then took her first good look at the page and nearly choked.

 _New figurines! Limited edition Team SAIJ, featuring the new Tournament Champion!_

"There's figurines… of all of us." Skye flicked down to the bottom of the page. "Should we buy them? So we have a set?"

"Already on it," Jade answered, tapping out something on her own scroll. "They're limited edition, after all; who knows if we'll ever get another chance. Hmm… Looks like there's a bunch of Aurum and a handful of me, but only a few for you two."

"Yeah, makes sense," Indie mused. "Me and Skye weren't in the doubles round; I'm kinda surprised they even _bothered_ making figurines of us. There weren't any in the store."

"It's probably because of our families," Skye answered, with a half shrug. "We have famous last names." She made a face. "Now you'll get to see what it's like to be recognized wherever you go."

"Is that why you got that makeover?" Aurum wanted to know. She wasn't considering changing up her combat outfit… not seriously, anyway, she liked her look; but if it would keep people from recognizing her right away and gushing over her, maybe it would be worth it. The attention had been kinda cool at first, but the novelty had worn off quickly.

Skye glared. " _No_ , I got a makeover because I wanted a change and Coco's shop specializes in combat gear. It's literally _in_ the name. And Atlas doesn't have anything like that as far as I know, so I wanted to do it while I had the chance." She punctuated her statement by snapping open her History textbook, indicating that the subject was closed.

"And… order placed," Jade reported.

Aurum spun around and stared at her friend. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't."

Jade gave her a tiny grin. "I _could_ tell you that, but it would be a lie."

"Fantastic," Aurum grumbled. "As if the one wasn't bad enough."

Jade's grin widened in a not at all apologetic way. Indie shrugged. "I ordered the rest the day after I found that one. They should be here in the next couple days." Aurum's expression must have been priceless, because Indie burst into laughter.

Silently promising herself that this would _not_ go unpunished, Aurum reached for her Field Medicine textbook. She was done with the latest assignment, but that was due tomorrow and Planis was probably going to give them another as soon as they turned it in, so she wanted to get ahead while she had the chance.

Only a couple minutes into the reading, Aurum was interrupted by her scroll tweeting at her. She reached for the device in annoyance, intending to silence it, but she couldn't help the sudden leap in her pulse when she saw the text bubble accompanied by the image of a dark-haired raven Faunus. She slid the message open without hesitation and devoured its contents, not quite able to suppress a loud squeal of excitement.

Skye and Jade yelped. "What the _hell_ , Belladonna?" Jade demanded.

"Pitch is leaving Vacuo!" Aurum's annoyance was quickly turning to glee. She was being _maybe_ a bit louder than necessary, but she was much too excited to care. Her girlfriend would be back in Vale soon! Well, okay, Pitch wasn't her girlfriend _yet_ , but… "She'll be here this evening!" She tore out of her desk chair and zipped around the room with her semblance.

Skye eyed her over the top of her textbook. "You seem _awfully_ excited considering you two aren't even official."

"Yet!" Aurum corrected her, too excited to be mad at her leader for being such a buzzkill. She was so excited she could _almost_ forgive Jade and Indie for ordering those figurines. Almost.

xxxxx

With a solid strike, Skye knocked her opponent back a few feet. Smiling in satisfaction, she flicked Gladiola's chamber so that the notch was pointed toward the cartridge filled with pale yellow Dust, and called a glyph into being.

The swirling clock face popped up behind her as she swooped in for the kill. She delivered a series of rapid-fire slashes before leaping into a backflip, landing on another glyph, and setting down gracefully on the other side of the arena, where she stood ready to finish the job if necessary.

Zelty got to his feet, groaning as his royal blue aura flickered in and out, but held. "Remind me why I agreed to be your little crash test dummy?"

"Hey, don't forget this whole thing was _your_ idea. My teammates would have made perfectly good test subjects." Skye did her best to imitate him. "But oh no, you were all 'I wouldn't want to be you if your mom finds out you haven't been practicing time dilation after she ordered you to work on it!'"

"Can you blame me?" Zelty muttered, wincing as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Your mom is _scary_ , I'm not about to get on her bad side. But should I be worried that my girlfriend's idea of a fun time is beating me into the dirt?"

Skye was pretty sure he was kidding, but… she couldn't keep her mind from flashing to Blake and Sun, who since moving to Beacon could be regularly seen beating each other senseless in the practice courts, to Ren and Nora, who kept themselves battle-ready not only by fighting each other but also their own kids, and finally to Ruby and Ilia, who frequently took down large trees by accident during their training sessions. "I… I think this is pretty normal for Huntsman couples."

"Well, you're the expert…" Zelty shrugged. "One more?"

"Absolutely _not_ ," Skye declared, eying him sternly. "I saw your aura flickering in that last bout; why'd you think I stopped attacking? No, we're done for today."

She attempted to soften her words by standing on her toes and kissing him quickly. The fact that he even wanted to go another round spoke volumes about his improvement since they'd started training together; the first couple weeks she'd been working with him, he'd only lasted two or three bouts before needing to call it quits. Now they could go against each other for over an hour at a time, but she appreciated that he trusted her judgement enough to listen to her when she told him he'd had enough for one day.

Soft applause from outside the ring drew her attention to the sole spectator, whom she hadn't noticed standing there. _Can't be getting tunnel vision in a real fight… guess that's what I'll need to work on next._ All she could see was that he had dark hair and was dressed in traveling clothes, before Zelty disbelievingly stammered out, "M-Master Holly?"

"Hello, son." Skye didn't have much chance to react as her boyfriend hopped the barricade and, without hesitation, enfolded the man in a tight hug.

Her knowledge of the man's identity fell into place with a nearly audible _click_. This had to be Zelty's mentor, Holly Fords, who had taken him in amid his parents' neglect and given him a good job, weapons, and training.

She hung back, not wanting to intrude on this heartfelt reunion, as she sized him up. She'd mistaken his hair for black at first, but on closer inspection, she saw it was actually a dark emerald green, and he sported a neatly trimmed goatee in the same color. Between that and his blood-red eyes, she decided that yes, _Holly_ was a very good name for this man. He was younger than she'd thought, with only the barest trace of gray at his temples. When she'd heard that he was retired she'd automatically assumed he was older, maybe around Oobleck's age, but looking at him she realized that he was only a couple of years older than her mom. Forty-five, maybe fifty at the most, but no older than that.

His traveling outfit was fairly nondescript: black boots, dark jeans, long-sleeved black shirt, and cargo vest in a dark burgundy that made his face look very pink. Or maybe that was from the wind. Dressed as he was, she never would have guessed him to be a Huntsman, retired or otherwise; his attire wouldn't have looked the slightest bit out of place on a civilian.

After a moment, his gaze flicked to her. She got the sense that she was being evaluated, and held his gaze steadily until he broke into a smile. "And this must be the young lady you've spoken so highly of. I'm pleased to meet you at last."

Skye held out her hand. "Yes, sir. Skye Schnee. It's very nice to meet you as well; I've heard a lot about you."

His gaze gained a slight touch of humor as he shook her hand. "All good things, I hope."

"Of course!" Skye was a little bit taken aback at the man's comment, before realizing he was teasing.

Master Holly continued, "I've seen you on the broadcasts in Atlas, of course." Skye flinched. He must have noticed, because he cleared his throat a bit awkwardly and went on, "And more recently in the Vytal Tournament. I must say, you are very skilled."

How was she supposed to respond to that? Luckily, she was saved from having to when Zelty squeezed her hand and asked his mentor, "Sir, how long are you going to stay in Vale?"

"I am planning to be here until your break," the man answered. "I dearly wanted to see you again, but you know I can't leave the shop for very long."

Skye picked up her sword. "I should go. It's almost dinnertime, and Jade wanted me to look over her Aura Theory report before it's due tomorrow." She carefully slid Gladiola into place at her hip, and smiled at the two before making her exit.

 **It seems I keep unintentionally foreshadowing stuff that's happening this volume. First a lie detection semblance. Then a character named Clover. And now the mission boards being an app. I'm honestly kind of flattered; even though I know RT has probably had these details planned for a while, it makes me happy to think that my ideas are cool enough to be in the show.**

 **Hope everyone had a good holiday. Christmas is** _ **way**_ **less stressful for me than Thanksgiving: it's a less formal occasion, with no homework, and I'm much closer to the relatives we spend Christmas with, so less room for my social anxiety to rear its ugly head. And I got the new RWBY guidebook! About halfway through it now. Anyway, that's enough about me. Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter!**


	36. Well, This Is Awkward

**So, a little status update before the chapter. I recently got a new job (yay!), but since it's several hours away from where I've been living, obviously I had to move. My new apartment's Wi-Fi has the FF site BLOCKED. Which is extremely annoying. While I can still use the app to read and leave reviews at home, I won't be able to post or PM without finding a public library or something. (For the last month or so, I have not been getting notifications of PMs sent to my email.) In summary, my updates will be dependent on my days off for the foreseeable future. The upside is, I might be able to update a little more frequently, say every 10-12 days instead of every two weeks. I will be putting this same info on my profile.**

 **I do not own any of the characters or locations you recognize from RWBY.**

 **Well, This Is Awkward**

Aurum was used to visiting the professional housing by now, since she'd gotten in the habit of dropping in on her parents every so often since the beginning of the school year.

But this time… was different. Because she wasn't going to see her parents. She was going to see her girlfriend.

The two of them had talked it over (with no shortage of awkward—Aurum had never been great at discussing her feelings, and Pitch was better at it but not by much) and agreed that they wanted to keep seeing each other. They'd been an official couple for two weeks now. It was finally starting to sink in for Aurum that she actually had a girlfriend, for the first time in three years.

"Hey, there you are!" Pitch called from just inside the entrance to the building, where she'd been leaning casually against the wall. She flicked her wings in the air and lightly kissed Aurum on the cheek before draping an arm over her shoulders. The two exited the building and kept going. It was a _little_ hard to walk like that, but Aurum wasn't about to complain.

"Did you have anywhere specific in mind?" Aurum asked, after they'd been wandering aimlessly for a few minutes.

"Not really," Pitch answered lazily. "Anywhere you wanna go?"

Aurum pointed toward a bench off to the side, close to the cliffs and overlooking the city of Vale. "That looks like a nice spot?" She hadn't meant for it to come out as a question, but Pitch nodded. They settled onto it and snuggled up together, with Aurum resting her head on Pitch's shoulder. Pitch hesitated just a fraction of a second before unfolding one wing and draping it over Aurum. Both of them stared out at the view without saying a word.

 _Vale is so beautiful from up here_ , Aurum thought. Especially with the setting sun painting the sky a hundred different shades of orange, gold, and pink. The sunlight was hitting the tall skyscrapers at just the right angle, the windows becoming mirrors that fractured the glowing light into thousands of shining points that sparkled like jewels. At this moment, Aurum couldn't think of anything more beautiful than this view. It was actually kind of a shame that her teammates wouldn't be able to see the same thing that she did.

"Nice night for a little stargazing, don't ya think?"

Aurum, who had been letting her eyes half close, opened them wide with a squeak. She still made less of a scene than Pitch, who had let out a startled half-yelp, half-curse, and jumped at the words, which had been spoken from only a few yards away. Any other time, Aurum might have found that reaction adorable and tucked it into the back of her mind to tease her girlfriend about later, but right now she was too concerned with the fact that someone had managed to sneak up on them without her hearing—until the intruder's identity registered in her mind.

"Dad, _seriously_?!"

Sun was clearly trying not to laugh at his daughter's indignation, and wasn't having much luck. It only took a few seconds for him to give up on trying and start chuckling.

Aurum grabbed a handful of grass and threw it at him. He ducked it easily. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

"Rrr…" Aurum growled in the back of her throat. Yes, she _could_ do better, but with her weapons back in the dorm, she didn't have much choice other than to simply launch herself at him. Which she did with no further hesitation.

He was going easy on her, that was obvious. She'd managed to pin one of his arms behind his back, thankful that at least he wasn't armed either, only to hit the ground _hard_ as he swept her legs out from underneath her. She landed flat on her back, her wind knocked out.

"Not bad. Still a little sloppy, but you've come a long way since the last time we faced each other."

Aurum didn't have the energy to do more than grunt in reply.

"But Tournament Champion or not, you still can't beat me." Sun reached down and hauled Aurum to her feet. "Or your mother, for that matter. Just because we're semi-retired now doesn't mean we can't still bring it!"

Aurum scowled at him. "What are you doing out here, Dad? I swear, if the answer is 'spying on my date,' I'm gonna—"

"You're gonna what?" Sun challenged, still grinning cheekily. "Fight me? We just saw how that'll end up." He turned his cheerful grin onto Pitch, who was hovering off to the side as though she wanted to intervene but hadn't quite figured out how. "Heya! How's it goin'? Ya know, you really should come over for dinner sometime; it'd be awesome to get to know you a little better!"

"Uhh…" Pitch looked like she was mentally reviewing the last few minutes and trying to decide if she was dreaming, because surely nobody could be _that_ weird. Aurum knew the feeling. The raven Faunus finally seemed to regather her wits and ask, "You, uh, you got anytime special in mind?"

Sun put on an exaggerated thinking pose, his tail coiling in the air behind him like a question mark. "We-ell… how about two weeks from this Friday? No classes for second years, so Blake can leave the school early and we can have a longer time to spend together!"

"Sounds good to me," Pitch replied hurriedly, ignoring Aurum's frantic _No!_ gestures from behind Sun.

"Great!" Sun grinned hugely. He spun around, dodging the swat Aurum had been aiming at him, and proceeded to tweak her ear. "No arguments, kiddo. Your mom will most likely be back on campus within the next week, and I _guarantee_ she'll be on your case about this if you try to back out."

Aurum looked between her dad and her girlfriend, blinking in disbelief. "Did you two seriously just—? You know what, fine. Let's just get this whole meet-the-parents thing over with." Then, as the rest of Sun's statement sank in, she frowned. "Wait, when Mom gets _back_? Back from where?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you before she left?" Sun shrugged. "She's out on a mission. Supposedly something minor, but somewhat lengthy. She's been out for a week already; there's been a sub in to teach Grimm Studies in the meantime."

Mom was out on a mission? "But… I thought she wasn't going to be taking missions anymore. Wasn't that her whole reason for retiring and becoming a teacher? And hey, what's she doing taking missions while classes are in session instead of, you know, teaching?"

Sun's grin was starting to look a little strained. "Headmistress's orders. No arguing with Glynda Goodwitch. As for why now, well… that's classified, at least until she actually returns." He sighed, holding up one hand to forestall any further questions. "Look, I don't like it any more than you do. But it's necessary. So hold on a few more days, and you can ask her when she gets back, all right?"

Aurum scowled, but eventually nodded grumpily. Sun shot the two girls a peace sign and, shoving his hands in his pockets, turned and headed off down the path back toward the school, his signature dorky grin firmly back in place.

"So… that was a thing," Pitch remarked.

Aurum eyed her. "You _could_ have said something, you know."

Pitch shrugged, one corner of her mouth quirking up. "Aww, what would be the fun in that? I've barely even met your parents before; don't you think it would be better to just do it and get it over with? Besides, my parents are _way_ worse. You should have seen them the first time I brought a girl home—they were so mushy it was ridiculous. I'm pretty sure they still have pictures of our red faces somewhere." She eyed Aurum sideways for a minute. "You'll have to meet them at some point. You know that, right? Now that we're together. But… your dad actually seems pretty chill."

"Yeah…" Aurum knew Pitch was right—her dad _was_ extremely cool for being, well, a _dad_. Sure, he was a total dork and told downright terrible jokes, but according to Mom, he'd been just as much of a dork when they'd been teenagers at Beacon. _And yet she still married him…_

Aurum did her best to dismiss the thought from her mind and leaned back in her seat, enjoying the feeling of Pitch's soft feathers brushing against her bare arms. It was a feeling she'd nearly forgotten, spending lazy time cuddling with her girl, and she decided right then and there that this relationship would _not_ end like the last one…

xxxxx

Skye had intended to give her boyfriend a little time to spend with his mentor, figuring she could always spar against her teammates to practice her time dilation while he was otherwise occupied. Master Holly had told them he was only staying in Vale for about a week before he planned on returning to Atlas, so she thought it would be nice for the two of them to spend some time catching up without her there to make things awkward.

That plan died a sorry death when Zelty insisted she have some tea with them on Sunday.

Skye settled herself on the mat, pulling her cup a few inches closer to her as she fidgeted. She was _not_ used to being served tea in Mistral fashion, but she'd be damned if she was going to complain about being sore. If Zelty could survive tea with her mother, who was far more intimidating than Holly Fords could ever dream of being, then she could _certainly_ live through the stiffness that came with sitting on the floor for an hour.

"…given what I saw when I arrived, your fighting skills have improved tremendously," Master Holly was saying. "I'm very proud of you." He paused a moment to add a single dollop of honey to his tea, before continuing, "Your team must be excellent fighters, if they've managed to get you to this level."

"It… it wasn't my team," Zelty answered. Skye elbowed him gently, and he corrected himself. "It wasn't _all_ my team. They're great, but I also had Scarlatina and combat class… and Skye."

She hadn't said much yet, so having a cue to speak was a relief. "He asked me to tutor him in DustApps in our first semester. That branched into practicing with him so he could improve his fighting almost right away, so I've been working with him for two years now."

"Two years?" The retired Huntsman looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm glad. We've stayed in touch with the occasional call or video message, but I was rather disappointed I haven't been able to make it here sooner. It's good to know that my protegee has found so many people he can rely on. Your skills are exemplary; if your academics are as good, then it's no surprise he has improved so much."

Skye got the feeling that Master Holly didn't hand out praise like that to just anyone. So far, he'd struck her as a quiet, thoughtful kind of person, reserved but genuine. "Th-thank you." She took a sip from her cup, grateful that she liked tea. This was a much more potent blend than she was used to, more bitter; someone who wasn't used to tea would probably have found it unpleasant. "Sir… if you don't mind me asking…"

He nodded at her hesitation. "Go on."

"… why did you retire at your age?"

Master Holly simply nodded again, as if he'd been expecting something along those lines. "I chose to retire from active duty after my partner lost his life on a mission ten years ago. Without him there to watch my back, I didn't have the heart to continue."

"Oh." Skye busied herself with stirring her tea. She was fully aware of the dangers of her chosen life. Losing somebody in a situation like that might very well make her consider a career change as well. She groped for a subject change; she hadn't meant to pry, but when he'd mentioned his partner, she'd noticed that there was just the _tiniest_ emphasis on the word. Nothing huge, and she probably wouldn't have picked up on it if she wasn't so good at reading people, but it was enough to make her realize that they'd been more than just battle partners.

Quickly trying to steer the conversation back to lighter topics, she tried, "I'm… glad you decided to do what you could to continue to help in the fight against Grimm. My mother hates that she's stuck in an office most of the time. That's the only things I ever hear her complain about on a regular basis, not being able to get out in the field and kill things."

Master Holly eyed her frankly. "I have never had the honor of meeting your mother, but I am very pleased with the things she has done in the last twenty years." He sighed. "There are still accidents, occasionally, but overall the Dust mines are far safer than they were when I was young. Better working conditions, equal wages for all… Faunus were treated horribly, but the SDC's strict equal rights policy set a new standard all across Remnant."

Zelty brightened a bit. "There's a lot of Faunus here at Beacon. I never really met many Faunus back in Atlas, so I didn't have the chance to learn much about them until the last couple years."

"Oh?" Master Holly raised his eyebrows quizzically. "So you have met some Faunus here? I'm not surprised, the schools have never barred Faunus from entering. Not even in Atlas. Shame, really, that people have abused them for so long just for being a little different."

Zelty got a somewhat embarrassed expression, as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Um… yeah. Only I…um." He trailed off.

The master gave him an expectant stare. Zelty turned pink and ducked his head, picking up his teacup.

Skye intervened without looking up. "My cousin Aurum is a cat Faunus, and he said something to her about not expecting her to like swimming because cats don't tend to like water. Obviously, he didn't say it to be _mean_ , but he also shouldn't have said it at all. Aurum _way_ overreacted and stomped off before he could apologize. I had to track him down afterward and make sure he did." Eyeing him, she added, "He knows better now."

"Did you have to bring that up?" Zelty muttered.

Skye elbowed him again. " _Yes_ , I had to bring it up. Learning from your mistakes is a _good_ thing, remember?" She'd had to drill that lesson into him when they'd first started sparring together. It had originally been intended as a way for her to break down one of their matches, and point out his mistakes so he wouldn't make them again, but the lesson seemed appropriate right now.

"Aurum?" Master Holly considered. "Are you talking about the Tournament Champion, Miss Aurum Belladonna?"

"That's her," Skye answered immediately, glancing back up. "She's also my teammate."

The man wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Ah…I'm sorry, but… I don't understand. She is a Faunus. How can she be your cousin?"

Skye shrugged. "We're not related by blood, if that's what you're asking. Our parents were on a team together during their time at Beacon, and our families stayed very close even after they graduated. So yes, I consider Aurum to be my cousin, Faunus or not."

The retired Huntsman nodded, comprehension dawning. "I see. Well, that's not so unusual, then; teams are family in a way that blood simply can't compare to. I was confused, because I've never heard anyone refer to their teammates as _cousins_ before, but if your parents were on a team together it makes perfect sense."

xxxxx

Jade flicked through the pages of her textbook, idly wondering how long Planis had been using this particular title. The book used fairly straightforward language, but it went into a lot more detail than either of the books she'd given them previously. The latest edition was less than two years old, so the information contained within the pages was up to date. That was something, at least; Jade had had to make do with much older textbooks growing up. The chapters were a bit on the long side, but at least they weren't too hard to understand.

It was also somewhat… _graphic_. Jade flipped back a couple pages to double check a detail and cringed at one of the illustrations before scribbling down a note in the margin.

"… and your grades have certainly improved since she started working with you."

 _Huh?_ Jade looked up quickly, spotting the musician of Team AZSR walking with an older man. _That must be his mentor, that Skye was talking about earlier._ She quickly called up her semblance and faded from view, intending to sneak away with them none the wiser—this was clearly a private conversation, not something she should be listening to—until Zelty's next words registered in her mind.

"I don't think I would have made it at Beacon if not for Skye."

Jade immediately paused her retreat at the sound of her partner's name. Should she stay after all? This _did_ concern her team leader, so it concerned her by extension, right?

Her hesitation cost her. The conversation continued as the two men walked on down the path. She followed, without consciously making to decision to do so, a few steps behind and off to the side so that if they turned around to walk the other way, they wouldn't bump into an invisible person on the walkway. That would probably make them suspicious, to say the least.

"I am very glad to hear that." The red-eyed man looked like he wanted to say something else, then sighed. "I like her, and I think she's good for you, but there is… one thing that worries me, about her. What will your father think if…" He shook his head. "…no, _when_ he finds out about her?"

"Who cares?" Zelty muttered. Jade was a little startled at the sharp bitterness in his tone. She knew from some things he'd said, and also from vague hints that Skye had dropped, that the young man had had a… less than desirable relationship with his parents before enrolling at Beacon, but she'd never heard him talk like this before. "He threw me out. That means he lost all right to judge me, and I can do what I want."

"Oh, I am well aware of that," the older man mumbled. "And I am very proud of you for leaving that household. But… I am afraid he will find out about her, and travel here to confront you about it. I do not want that man anywhere near you."

Zelty shrugged, somewhat violently. "This is a combat school. If he _does_ hear about me and Skye somehow and tries to interfere, he'll be met by dozens of the finest warriors in Remnant, many of whom are fans of the _shoot first, ask questions later_ mindset."

 _Snap_.

Jade froze in place, pressing her hand to her mouth to stifle the string of profanity that rose up in her mind. Her semblance didn't muffle _sound_ , and here she'd just gone and cracked a twig right behind the _one person_ in all of Beacon who was more attuned to sound than anyone! If he hadn't known she was there before, well, he did now.

Sure enough, Zelty spun around and began searching the trees intently. Jade held her breath, not daring to move and hoping he'd assume it had just been an animal, but no such luck.

"Give it up, Jade. I know you're listening."

If he hadn't addressed her by name she might have stayed perfectly still and not revealed herself, but since he _had_ … "Fine," Jade huffed, and let her semblance evaporate, reappearing in front of them. The older man looked startled to realize she'd been eavesdropping, but his expression quickly became neutral once again.

"Hello, miss. May I ask why you were listening to us?" Well, he was polite, at least. "This was meant to be a private conversation."

Jade glowered at him. "You were talking about Skye."

"Yes, and?" the man inquired, still polite. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Skye is my cousin. My partner. My team leader, _and_ one of my best friends. You'd better believe it's my business," Jade shot back. "If your father gets wind of the fact that you're dating Skye Schnee of all people, you think he'll come to Beacon to try and break you up?"

Jade had suspected something along those lines, after she'd realized that the couple had yet to have a single date somewhere other than the Beacon campus. It seemed obvious—if an unprincipled reporter found it that his son was dating the heiress to the Schnee empire, then of course he'd try to get a story out of it. She hadn't asked, or poked fun at them about it—if her suspicions were correct, that was an off-limits topic—but now it looked like she'd been right.

Zelty flinched back away from her. Jade didn't let her satisfaction with that show. Not surprising he'd be scared of her. She had two inches and at least thirty pounds on him, not to mention a decade more fighting experience. To his credit, though, he still managed to retort, "No, I think he'd use it as a way to try and worm his way back into my life. And I _won't let that happen._ He's a terrible person, and I respect Skye too much for that."

Jade just stared at him, calculating, before nodding once. "All right." She gave him one last glare, trying control her expression, before turning on her heel and heading back toward bench where she'd left her textbook.

It wasn't until she was around a bend and well out of sight of the two that she allowed herself a tiny smile. _Skye, you really found yourself a keeper._

xxxxx

Cutting deadlines close had never been something Indie liked doing. She had always been _that person_ who completed assignments with time to spare, and instead of goofing off afterward, chose to spend her time doing even more academic research. Sometimes it was for extra credit; more often, it was simply for the sheer pleasure of _learning_. It had earned her the title of _nerd_ from a number of people, but she'd never minded since it was mostly used affectionately. This Field Medicine assignment, though… it had been giving her trouble. It was due next week, and Planis hadn't answered any of the three emails Indie had sent her. So Indie was now hovering outside the classroom, hoping to catch the professor outside after class.

She checked her scroll, checking to see that there were still a few minutes to go before the block ended. Well, she might as well get comfortable. Leaning against the wall, she did a rather comical double take as she happened to glance through the small window on the classroom door, and saw a teacher at the front of the room who was decidedly _not_ Emerald Planis.

The bell rang while she was still trying to figure out who this young, soft-looking substitute was. He looked to be only a couple years older than the first-year students he'd just finished lecturing; Indie would have put even odds on him being younger than her own twenty years. As the students streamed out the door, she happened to catch sight of some of the first years' faces. Specifically, one of the few whose name she actually remembered from initiation, because he used an absolutely gorgeous recurve bow very similar to her own weapon. He was talking to another student, presumably a teammate, but he glanced her way briefly before turning his attention back to the conversation. That was enough for her.

"Hey, Madder!"

The boy turned back around, his eyes catching on Indie. He looked a tad nervous to have an upperclassman addressing him so directly, but he made a valiant effort to conceal it as he ducked out of the throng of students and off to the side of the hall where she stood.

"What… um, what's going on?"

Indie nodded toward the classroom. "Who's the sub?"

"Uh, his name's Clay. Not Professor; he's just here while Planis is out on her mission."

"Mission?" Indie repeated. _Seriously, what's with all the teachers suddenly going on missions during the school year? First Blake, now Planis? This is getting ridiculous!_ "Why is everybody on missions these days?!"

She hadn't realized she'd said that out loud until Madder's expression grew even more nervous. Indie narrowed her eyes at him. That wasn't a _holy-crap-an-upperclassman-is-talking-to-me_ face. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It-it's just a rumor," Madder stammered out.

"Tell me," Indie ordered. An odd, detached part of her brain questioned the fact that she was demanding things of a first year. In an attempt to soften the impact her tone had just had, she continued, "I won't repeat it unless I can confirm it, and I won't mention your name at all."

Madder glanced back and forth down the hallway before speaking quickly, in a low voice. "Rumor is, Planis and Belladonna kept clashing, so Goodwitch sent them out on a mission together thinking it would help them to start getting along."

Indie didn't doubt that for a second. "Good to know." She left the poor kid staring after her as she hightailed it back to the dorm to share the news with her teammates.

If any of the professors were going to take missions, Indie honestly would have put her money on Vulpine. The Theory of Aura professor had a very energetic nature; she paced the room while giving her lectures, pounded her hand on a desk or a wall to emphasize her point, and could frequently be spotted doing some shadow sparring in the quad, and Indie knew the woman took the occasional mission during school breaks. But if a professor had been _ordered_ on a mission, by Goodwitch herself no less, well, there wasn't really much choice. Even if it was during the school year.

As she walked with purpose down the hallways, Indie considered. Planis clearly didn't hold any grudges against her former enemies' children; if she did, Team SAIJ wouldn't have survived their first semester. She supposed it was possible that Planis still held a grudge against the members of RWBY themselves, but it seemed pretty unlikely. Given the professor's no-nonsense attitude and apparent love for teaching (not to mention _fifteen years at Beacon_ ), she seemed to have left her old life behind her, completely. That meant… most likely, Blake was the one acting hostile toward her fellow teacher.

Sending the two of them on a mission together seemed like a kind of unfair punishment. If Blake got herself killed by Grimm out there… Indie knew her own family well enough to be sure that Yang and Weiss would tear the poor teacher apart as soon as they heard, without even giving her the chance to explain. She could only hope that Goodwitch knew what she was doing.

 _Please… make sure they both come back okay…_

 **I'm several chapters ahead right now, so I'm hoping I'll be able to keep up, but if not, I'll be sure to let y'all know. I've also put a list of my stories on my profile, including some future ones that I haven't started yet but really want to do, so check that out if you want. And please leave a review!**


	37. The Semester Winds Down

**Well, I did say updates would probably be more frequent. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own anything you recognize from RWBY.**

 **The Semester Winds Down**

Jade had really started to enjoy these training sessions with Scarletta. The older student was an incredibly interesting person; she always had a funny story to tell, and they'd gotten into the habit of grabbing a snack from the café afterwards and chatting for a while. It made for a nice break from academics. She'd found out that Scarletta was something of a reader, so the two of them had swapped some book titles with each other and discovered that they enjoyed some of the same adventure stories.

It was five of four, and Jade had showed up at the gym to find that her sparring partner wasn't there yet.

That wasn't entirely unexpected. Scarletta tended to rush in just a few seconds shy of being late, and they'd agreed to meet at four, so Jade was a few minutes early. As she waited, she decided to watch a bout between a team of first years, who had divided up into partner pairs and were facing off against each other.

It took about ten minutes for one of the pairs to emerge victorious, at which point Jade glanced around the gym and realized that Scarletta _still_ hadn't arrived. That… was a little weird. Usiku had passed Jade in the hall on her way to the gym, so she knew RUST was currently on campus. Maybe Scarletta had been in the middle of something and had lost track of time?

Jade supposed it was _possible_ that her friend had forgotten about their plans. With nothing better to do, she decided to wander over to the dorm to knock on RUST's door and see if the redhead was still there.

Taking one last peek at her scroll to make sure Scarletta hadn't texted her about a change of plans, Jade strolled out of the gym and headed for the dorms.

As she passed the administrative building, Jade spotted something that made her pause. Scarletta was standing outside, talking with Goodwitch. She had her back to Jade, and was dressed in a lavender t-shirt and skinny jeans instead of her combat outfit, but there was no mistaking those fiery curls.

The headmistress nodded at something Jade couldn't hear and went back inside. Scarletta turned around, spotting the bespectacled fighter hovering off to the side and waving to her.

Jade hurried up to her friend. "Hey, what did Goodwitch want to talk to you about?"

Scarletta shrugged. "Just some stuff about graduation. Family visiting and all that."

"Wow, you don't waste time, do you?" Jade teased. "Graduation isn't for months. I was on my way to your dorm to look for you when you didn't show up at the gym like we planned. Hey, where's your sword? And why're you dressed like a civvy?"

Scarletta's expression grew a bit confused, then cleared. "Oh, I think there's been a mistake…"

"There you are!"

Jade turned toward the sound of the voice—and promptly did a double take. The young woman striding across the lawn, golden sword and chainmail gleaming, was completely identical to the person standing next to her. _Wait, what?_ Glancing back and forth between the two, she decided it was a safe bet to assume that the girl dressed in armor was the same one she'd known for the last two years… but who the hell was this doppelganger?!

The armored redhead grinned. "So, I see you've met my sister."

Jade stared dumbly between the two again, before managing to say, "You… you have a twin?"

The civilian-attired girl chuckled good-naturedly. "Been a while since we got that one, huh Scar?" Turning back to Jade, she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Inferna; I go to Libra University. Didn't make it to the Vytal Festival this year, so I don't think we've met before."

Jade shook the girl's hand. "Jade Xiao Long. Sorry about the… mix-up; I never realized Scarletta had a twin."

"Not something I talk about much," Scarletta pointed out. "I mean, outside of my team, I don't talk about much other than fighting or weapons…" Her excited expression dialed back just a little. "…Or, you know, homework and stuff. There's so much more _interesting_ things to discuss with people!"

"Yeah, fair enough. By the way, I found that book _Shadow Lightning_ you wanted me to check out. Haven't started it yet though." Jade took another look at the identical twins in front of her and shook her head in bemusement. " _Please_ tell me you used to switch places and try to trick your teachers?"

Both of the redheads burst into ringing belly laughs. Inferna recovered first. "Yeah, we tried it a few times." She snorted, shaking her head at some memory. "It never lasted long. The teachers figured out pretty quick that the loud, rambunctious twin was Scarletta, and the quiet, artistic twin was Inferna, no matter what we were wearing or where we were sitting. There wasn't much point, so we stopped after a bit."

"Then we finished our primary schooling, and I started at Flare while Inferna went to Stony Creek High," Scarletta added. "We tried switching once after that, and then swore we'd never do it again. I couldn't for the life of me handle a whole day of books and tests; regular high school doesn't talk about _anything_ fun."

"Oh, like combat school is so easy?" Inferna challenged her sister. "I'd never gotten so many bruises and scrapes in my life." She shuddered exaggeratedly. "I thought I was in _so much trouble_ when the combat teacher hauled me into her office after class. I lasted about four seconds before I spilled the beans." She gave her sister a wicked grin. "And then _you_ got detention for a week for ditching school."

Scarletta shook her head, grinning at the memory.

Jade snorted in amusement. "If _I_ had an identical twin, I'd totally pull every prank in the book." She considered her words for a minute. "Except Mom never would have been able to fit _two_ kids on the back of her bike, so maybe it's a good thing I'm an only child. And it's not like I ever had teachers I could prank."

"No teachers?" Inferna looked bemused. "Oh, were you homeschooled?"

"Sorta?" Jade hedged. "I grew up on the back of a motorcycle, traveling all across Remnant. Mom taught me how to read and write and do math, but after that she bought me textbooks and pretty much left me in charge of my own education. If I wanted to learn about something new, all I had to do was tell her and she'd figure something out, but I was on my own to follow through with it. I missed out on a lot of the typical school subjects like geometry and science, but I know a lot about history, and practical stuff like mechanics."

"Yeesh," Scarletta muttered. "Maybe I didn't exactly excel in primary school, but I'm still glad I learned the basic stuff. Like how to make change, and how to read a map. Stuff like that. But other than that? I dunno if I've told you this, but if I hadn't been accepted to Beacon, I would have gone to Vale Tech instead. I like working with my hands, and mechanics, now _that_ sounds useful."

Jade grinned. "I can't tell you _how_ many times I had to fix Mom's bike growing up. Frankly, I'm surprised she let me touch it; sometimes I think she loves that thing more than she loves me. But she showed me the basics, and I taught myself a lot from the manuals I found. I'm gonna buy myself a bike of my own as soon as I graduate, and travel all over Remnant like I did when I was a kid."

Scarletta held up her hand for a high five. Jade went to slap it, but Inferna slipped around the side and beat her to it. Scarletta gave her sister a mock dirty look. Inferna only grinned before asking Jade, "So… you two were planning to fight each other, right? Mind if I watch?"

"Why are you even asking?" Scarletta inquired of her twin. "You never bothered before. Of _course_ you can come watch us practice!"

xxxxx

"… and I swore I'd never cook again, until I had to bake brownies for class the next year!"

Indie broke into giggles at Dusty's story. Her scroll was propped up on her desk, providing a clear image of the young man who'd become a good friend in recent weeks. They'd traded scroll ID numbers before parting ways after SAIJ's escort mission, and kept in contact. She'd discovered that she really enjoyed spending time with someone besides her classmates. He was so easy to talk to.

"I mean, I'm not the greatest chef in the world, but at least I've never set the kitchen on fire," Dusty continued. "That time, though—hoo, I came pretty close!" He grinned for a minute, then his face grew serious. "Indie, would you like to… go out sometime?"

"What?" Indie straightened up and leaned forward, toward her scroll. "You want to… go on a date? With me?"

Dusty nodded wordlessly, running a hand through his hair and looking a little embarrassed.

Indie frowned. "I'm… not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because…" Indie had been half-hoping he might ask her out, but now that it had actually happened… "I'm barely twenty, and I still have a year and a half left before I graduate from Beacon! You're four years older. And anyway… why me?"

"Well… I know I've never met a girl like you before." Indie squinted at her screen, and he hurried to add, "I mean that in a good way! You always have something interesting to share with people, and you're always looking for ways to improve yourself." He fidgeted with his scroll; Indie winced as the image shook. "And… you're cute."

Indie couldn't help being a little bit flattered that he thought she was cute. And he'd said it _after_ mentioning her intellect. That was definitely a point in his favor, but still… "I… I need to think about it."

"If you're not interested—" Dusty began.

Indie cut him off. "No, I _am_! But four years seems like a really big age gap." She sighed. "Please… just give me a day or two to think this over."

Dusty nodded. "That… sounds good. I'll look forward to hearing your answer." He gave an awkward grin for another minute, then, evidently not knowing what else to do, jabbed a finger at his screen and ended the call.

Indie groaned and leaned back in her desk chair, one hand over her face. What had she been _thinking_?! A really nice, really cute guy had just asked her out, and she'd told him she _needed to think about it_! She really was an idiot.

She was tempted to call him back immediately and tell him she'd changed her mind, that she was _most definitely_ interested in going out with him and how did this Wednesday sound? But that seemed a little… creepy, so eventually she just picked up her History assignment and headed for the library, still mentally berating herself.

Her idea of doing homework for the rest of the morning was derailed the moment she entered the academics building. Blake Belladonna and Emerald Planis were standing just inside the entrance, chatting with Doctor Oobleck. They'd clearly just gotten back from their mission—and it looked like the rumors had been correct, that they'd been assigned a mission together to try and force them into cooperating. Blake wasn't radiating hostility toward the other woman, like she had been earlier in the year, and while Planis didn't look entirely comfortable with the current situation, she also didn't appear to be prepared for an attack at any moment. So… maybe it had been successful?

Indie took a moment to check out what the two women were wearing. Blake was dressed in her usual combat outfit, which was the same thing she wore to class most days. But Indie was used to seeing her dressed like that. Planis, on the other hand… well, Indie racked her brain to try and come up with a time she'd _ever_ , even _once_ , seen the woman dressed for combat—and came up empty.

Planis typically taught her classes wearing jeans or khakis and button-down shirts in a variety of neutrals, always neatly ironed, and wore her long hair in a ponytail. Now though… Indie had never even stopped to consider that the teacher might prefer to wear something else while hunting Grimm.

The professor had traded her usual clothes for a white t-shirt worn underneath a tan corset vest, forest green cargo shorts that tied just under her knees, and brown ankle boots. A pair of fingerless gloves and a weapons belt in the same shade of green as her shorts accented the simple outfit. Indie craned her neck trying to get a glimpse of the weapons in the holsters. As with her normal appearance, Planis had no overarching color scheme, although she was wearing enough dark green for Indie to suspect that it was her favorite color.

The bell rang. Indie ducked back into the throng of students suddenly pouring out of the classroom, hoping they hadn't seen her.

No such luck. There wasn't an ounce of blue in the Beacon school uniform, and Indie was dressed nearly head to toe in varying shades of it. Blake turned her way, and her golden eyes lit up. "Indie!"

 _Crap_. Giving up on her attempt at hiding in the crowd, Indie changed direction and headed for the two teachers.

Planis gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "How have you been?"

"Good." Indie didn't waste time on pleasantries. "Um, I wanted to ask you a question about your assignment—"

Planis nodded quickly, cutting off Indie's question. "I know. I saw your emails—all three of them—about an hour ago. Do you have fifth block tomorrow available? I can schedule a few minutes to answer your questions then. And—since you asked your questions earlier and I didn't get the chance to answer—how does a week's extension on the assignment sound?"

"Yes, that works!" Indie felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The assignment had been really stressing her out. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course." Planis smiled at her—a genuine smile, not like the semi-forced ones she'd given them in their first couple years. "Good luck with it!"

Indie nodded in thanks and resumed walking toward the library. Things were looking up. _After I'm finished with this… I'll call Dusty back and tell him yes._

xxxxx

Skye closed her DustApps textbook with a groan. The assignment was pretty simple, at least in theory—read the next two chapters, summarize them in a few paragraphs each, and answer the questions at the end—but the textbook for upper-years was ridiculous. Rather than laying out the facts in simple language like the book they'd used for the last two years, the new textbook took four sentences to say something it could have said in one, and the text was incredibly technical. More than once while reading the chapters, Skye had had to pause and translate a sentence into layman's terms. _Aren't textbooks supposed to be all clear and concise?_

Her scroll rang, a welcome interruption. Skye grabbed for the device where it was sitting on the dresser, and broke into a huge grin when she saw her mother's face on the screen. She immediately hit Accept, and the screen resolved into an image of Weiss in her office. "Mom, I'm so glad to hear from you!"

Weiss gave her a knowing smile. "You're in the middle of a difficult homework assignment, aren't you." It was very clearly not a question.

Skye pretended to be hurt. "Am I that predictable?"

"I know you, sweetheart. You've always been over-the-top excited when you're distracted from an assignment you're struggling with." Weiss gave her a piercing stare, but it was softened by her small smile. "Besides, I don't hear you denying it."

"Fine, you're right." Skye reached for her discarded textbook, holding it in front of the screen so Weiss could get a look at the title. "This _ridiculous_ book takes forever to get to the point. It took me twice as long to get through the reading as it should have because I kept having to stop and figure out what it was saying. And I haven't even started on the questions or the summary yet."

Weiss let her tiny smile blossom into a real one. "Just do your best, and I'm sure it'll be fine." She paused. "I have to say, I was not expecting the new hair."

"I… I got a new dress, too." Skye ran a hand through her hair, suddenly very conscious of the changes in her appearance since she'd seen her mom last. "Is it… bad?"

Weiss hurriedly shook her head. "Not at all! I love it; I'm happy you found a new style you like. It looks beautiful on you. Where did you find the dress?"

"From Coco's shop," Skye answered absently, still taking in the fact that her mom approved of her new look.

Weiss raised her brows in clear surprise. "Coco… _Adel_?"

Skye nodded. "Yup! She has a shop in Vale now, and it's right next to the salon where I got my hair done."

"Well." Weiss gave her another once-over. _Would you call that a "twice-over?"_ Skye wondered. "You'll have to send me pictures; all I can see right now is your hair and a little bit of your dress. I don't think I realized Coco had set up a shop, but I can't say I'm surprised. She always did have impeccable fashion sense. I'm glad she's found something she can do once she retires from being a Huntress."

Skye giggled. "Except Coco says she doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon. She likes killing monsters too much."

Weiss rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "Oh, rub my face in it, why don't you… but she's unattached, so I guess it's less of a worry for her than it would be for a lot of people." Her expression grew more serious. "Sweetheart… I didn't call you just to talk. I need to tell you, before I get distracted again… I won't be able to make it to Vale anytime soon."

"What?" Skye jerked her head back up, staring at her mother. "Why not?"

"Mm… so you haven't heard, then." Weiss gave a long, drawn-out sigh. "My father… passed away a few days ago. We… are planning to release the news to the media either later today or tomorrow. I wanted to let you know before then, so you wouldn't be surprised when you see the story."

"Oh." Skye didn't know how to respond. Weiss had always had a very strained relationship with her father, meaning Skye had only met him a handful of times in her life and the tension had been thick enough to cut with her sword each time. He'd been disgraced after records of a number of his unethical practices—and a video proving he was also guilty of domestic abuse—had been leaked to the media, leading to his divorce and his removal from the business.

Weiss sighed again. "Your face looks about the same right now as Winter's did when we first heard. You're not sure how to feel about it yet, are you?"

Skye shook her head wordlessly.

"To be honest… neither am I." Weiss was quiet for a minute. "If nothing else… one good thing did come out of this."

"What's that?"

"Winter and I are making arrangements… and Whitley contacted us yesterday."

Skye stared. "He's… speaking to you again?"

"Well, at least for now. Who know if it'll last." Weiss reached for something on her desk that Skye couldn't see. "But… I'm hopeful."

xxxxx

All in all, Aurum thought, this whole meet-the-parents dinner could be going a _lot_ worse.

Blake passed plates around the table. "Dig in! The greens are fresh from the farmers' market, and the lasagna is just about ready to come out of the oven."

Aurum reached for the blue cheese dressing, setting it next to her plate so she'd have it close at hand. Salad wasn't her favorite thing in the world (except for maybe _tuna_ salad), but she'd had it drilled into her head nearly all her life that if she was going to become a Huntress, she needed to eat balanced meals in order to receive proper nutrition and be at her best. So she ate the green leafy stuff. Not happily, but she didn't complain about it. At least, not too much.

Blake smiled over at their guest. "Pitch, I don't know what you like. Is this all right?"

Pitch, munching on a piece of garlic bread, shrugged. "I'll eat pretty much anything… uh, ma'am."

Blake visibly cringed at being ma'amed. "Please call me Blake. I have to tolerate being called ma'am from my students, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Besides, we're both Huntresses; you and I are technically comrades in arms."

"Understood… Blake." Pitch served herself a generous helping of salad. A _ding_ sounded from the kitchen, and a minute later Sun came into the dining room, carrying a large casserole dish.

Aurum nearly drooled. Her dad was a surprisingly good cook for having grown up in the wilds of Vacuo, and lasagna was hands down his best dish. Awkward meet-the-parents dinner or not, she'd been looking forward to the cheesy, tomato-y goodness all week.

Blake laid out the meal on the small card table she'd set up earlier—the apartment's dining room table was _not_ designed for four people, and there was barely room for their plates, let alone serving dishes. "Dig in!"

It wasn't a super formal affair, thank all the gods, Aurum thought. She'd heard Blake tell Sun to be on his best behavior, but all that meant was no dad jokes and try to not embarrass their daughter—or at least, not embarrass her _too_ much.

"So, Pitch, you grew up in Vacuo?" Sun was asking.

Pitch lowered her fork. "Um, yeah. Shade wasn't for me, though. Had it narrowed down to Beacon or Haven, and it ended up being Haven. No way was I going to Atlas; way too cold for a desert dweller."

"Up top!" Sun cheered, holding up a hand. Pitch eyed him for a moment, as if suspecting a trap, then shrugged and high-fived him. "I did pretty much the same. Nothin' wrong with Shade, but I wanted to see more of the world than just the desert. Definitely got that from Haven."

Blake rolled her eyes. "You say that like you _didn't_ stow away on a ship to Beacon for the festival and get chased by the police. That wasn't enough _seeing the world_ for you? And that was _before_ you followed me to Kuo Kuana after the Fall of Beacon."

"Menagerie is still desert!" Sun protested. "And besides, I didn't _follow_ you!"

Aurum rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming.

"I _tailed_ you!"

Pitch let out an involuntary snort as Sun used his tail to serve himself some lasagna. _As if anybody missed the joke_. Blake gave a tiny eye-roll, the only indication she'd heard the joke at all.

"Anyway, Pitch, how are liking being a Huntress?" Blake asked, ignoring Sun's mock hurt expression at his joke being ignored.

"It's… well, I've only been a real Huntress for about eight months," Pitch answered. "I took a few missions out of Shade while I was in Vacuo, and I think it's finally starting to sink in that this is my life now. It was… really weird, the first few weeks on my own. I'd gotten so used to having my team around, and now I don't have Chiara to strategize with, or Doug to talk about weapons, or Tanner to spout off some statistic that nobody else cares about."

Aurum let a tiny snort escape her at Pitch's last point.

Sun nodded in agreement. "Yep, definitely been there. My team didn't hold it against me for leaving Mistral after graduating, but they _did_ give me a hard time about it." He gave a nostalgic grin. "They were such dorks."

Blake rolled her eyes. "In other words, you fit right in."

Pitch giggled. Aurum was glad to see her girlfriend so at ease. Maybe her dad's stupid sense of humor was good for something after all. She let her eyes drift over to the picture that proved Blake's point: Team SSSN's graduation photo, which held the place of honor along with Team RWBY's, and featured Sun shooting a pair of finger guns, Neptune striking a cool pose and winking at the camera, and Sage and Scarlet fist-bumping each other with huge, dorky grins on their faces.

Blake turned to the younger generation, snapping Aurum's attention away from the photo. "You may not remain as close with your teammates as I did with mine, but they're still the closest friends you've ever had, am I right?" She waited for Pitch to nod before continuing, "You'll still be friends, even if you're living far away from each other." Her expression grew a bit sly. "You want my advice? Make sure to invite your teammates to your wedding. It's been over twenty years and my team _still_ hasn't forgiven me for eloping right after graduation."

" _Mom!_ " Aurum shrieked, her face suddenly flaming. Why did Mom have to go and bring up _weddings_ right now?! Seriously, she and Pitch had been official for all of a _month_ ; they weren't considering getting married anytime soon!

"Noted," Pitch muttered, then dropped her voice even further. "Still better than my parents."

Blake, clearly hearing, gave her daughter's date a suggestive smile. "Are you saying I need to up my game? You should meet _my_ mother."

Pitch cackled. Aurum, her face still heated, managed a weak chuckle.

Sun snagged a piece of garlic bread. "Aw, give the little lovebirds a break."

Pitch broke off mid-laugh and eyed him. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

"Uh… yeah?" Sun answered, making it sound more like a question. He held up his tail. "Didn't the tail joke make it obvious?"

Pitch gave him a serious look for a few seconds, long enough for the grin to slide off Sun's face to be replaced with a slightly worried expression, before finally breaking into a smile. "All right, that was a good one."

Blake lifted a forkful of greens into her mouth; Aurum was pretty sure it was to hide a smile of her own. After finishing the bite, she turned back to Pitch. "I have to say, I am very curious as to why your team entered the tournament as fourth years. That's pretty rare, since finishing up the graduation requirements usually tend to take center focus that year. Mind sharing that story with us?"

Pitch gave a wing shrug. Aurum thought that was quite possibly the most adorable thing ever, that Pitch shrugged with her wings instead of her shoulders. "Well, it's not like it's a secret." The raven Faunus drained her water glass before continuing. "We had planned to enter our second year, but due to some bad timing, we were out on a mission that lasted longer than it was supposed to, and we missed the qualifiers."

Blake winced in sympathy. Getting shut out of the Vytal Tournament on a technicality like that had to hurt.

"Anyway, Chiara was majorly steamed about missing out on the tournament. She absolutely insisted on entering this past year, regardless of all our graduation requirements. I think if the rest of us had been solidly against it, we would have been able to talk her out of it eventually, but we all wanted to enter too and get the chance to show off."

"Well, you did great!" Sun cheered. "You might have even won if not for getting matched up with SAIJ; they're no slouches."

"So I noticed," Pitch mumbled dryly. "About the time that this one—" she nodded in Aurum's direction "—decided to crash into me in midair."

Blake tilted her head thoughtfully. "Who were you planning on going to the singles? You or Chiara?"

"Honestly?" Pitch answered. "We hadn't decided. Both of us would have done well, but we eventually agreed to not worry about that unless we won in the doubles. So kind of a moot point."

Sun reached over and refilled Pitch's water glass. "There is something about your fighting style that I've been wondering about. How do you move your swords around in midair? At first I thought it was wires, but then I realized there weren't any."

"That? It's my semblance." Pitch reached into her boot and pulled out a dagger, one that looked like a miniature version of her swords, with the sand-filled hourglass on the hilt. "I call it 'sandstorm,' see?" She raised her hand over the weapon, and Aurum watched, awed, as the sand grains began swirling around inside the glass. "It lets me control sand." She pulled her hand back, and Aurum stared in awe as the dagger lifted into the air, propelled by nothing but Pitch's control over the individual sand grains. _That must have taken some_ _ **serious**_ _practice, to be able to master the way she moves her swords like she does!_

"Damn." Sun whistled. Aurum wasn't sure she'd ever seen her dad look so genuinely impressed. " _That_ sounds like it would've come in incredibly handy, growing up in Vacuo."

"Yeah." Pitch looked down at her empty plate for a second. "I stopped a sandstorm when I was nine. Pretty dramatic reveal. That was when I realized I could modify my family's emblem—the hourglass—to serve an actual function instead of just being decoration."

"Oh, so that's where the hourglass came from," Blake remarked, nodding. "I was wondering about that." She looked over the table, noting the empty plates. "Why don't we clean up the meal? I made chocolate cheesecake for dessert."

 **Those who are familiar with Scarletta's character inspiration will not be the slightest bit surprised to learn that she has a twin. That scene's been planned for… what, a year? At least.**

 **And as for my killing off Jacques… My logic leads me to believe that he'd be around ninety at this point in time, since I'm pretty sure he's significantly older than Willow. So yeah, he died of old age. I won't say that I didn't feel a sort of vindictive pleasure at killing him off though, with what a dick he's been this volume.**

 **Also… I FINALLY DID IT! Over 5k words this chapter! *dorky victory dance* Please review, it makes me so happy to know that people are enjoying the story! :D**


	38. A Vacation, Sort Of

**This chapter is late because… reasons. To try and make up for that, I'm posting two chapters today instead of one.**

 **Before I start… I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the creator of RWBY, the man we lost five years ago. Monty will be forever missed, and I hope that wherever he is, he can see what his dream became, and is proud of it.**

 **I only own my original characters. Everything else belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **A Vacation, Sort Of**

The break didn't feel like as much of a vacation as it had in the past, Indie decided. Being upper-years now, they didn't have classes to take a break from, so the only real difference was that now they had no homework for two weeks until classes started back up.

Two weeks was starting to feel like an abnormally long time.

Part of that probably had to do with the pipsqueak bouncing along excitedly in front of her. Lian, never one for sitting on her butt for long, kept dashing ahead and waiting impatiently at corners for Indie to catch up. Despite the fact that Indie was taller, with longer legs, she was evidently taking too long to get places.

Indie wondered, not for the first time, what had made her agree to hosting two mini Huntresses in their dorm room for a week when Skye first brought it up. Nora hadn't seen any issue with Lian and Citrine staying home while she and Ren were off on a mission to the south, but Ren had been concerned (and rightfully so, Indie thought) that Lian might get into trouble at home with no school to occupy her time in a productive manner. So somebody—probably Nora—had come up with the questionably brilliant plan of sending the two girls to Beacon for some extra training.

The dorm room was admittedly more cramped than it was supposed to be, since team dorms were designed to fit _four_ people long term, not six. Still, it could have been worse. Indie was more concerned with the fact that Lian had wanted to do some sparring. While she was excited to get the chance to _finally_ scope out Lian's weapon (which she was sure the pipsqueak had been hiding purely to torture her), she was also nervous, because Lian was a very _up close and personal_ type of fighter, and that was a fighting style that Indie knew full well she was weak against. She didn't mind losing in spars—that was the trade-off for choosing distance fighting, and she was nearly unmatched in that—but losing to a twelve-year-old would definitely bruise her ego a bit.

After a quick stop at the library to pick up _The Grimm's War Against Remnant_ , Lian once again led the way, running down the hallway in her single-minded rush to get to the gym. Letting out a squeal, she barely managed to skid to a stop, narrowly avoiding a door that had suddenly opened in her path.

It took Lian a moment to recover from nearly banging into the solid wooden door, which Indie used to catch up to the girl, mentally preparing an apology to whoever had opened it.

As it turned out, apologizing was unnecessary. Emerald Planis stopped short to see the small girl outside her office, and immediately chastised her. "No running in the halls."

Lian pouted. "But I don't even go to school here."

"I am aware." Planis kept her expression neutral even when faced with Lian's puppy-dog eyes, which Indie found impressive. "However, I am _also_ aware that you wish to enroll at Beacon early, in which case I highly recommend that you begin following the rules _now_." Her expression grew a bit more severe. "I also recommend that you not sass your teachers."

Lian's puppy eyes morphed into a sheepish grin as she mumbled, "Sorry, Emmy."

Indie had mostly been hanging off to the side, content to let Planis scold the little demon if it meant she didn't have to (not that she thought Lian would actually listen), but she couldn't help muttering, " _Emmy_?" under her breath, a little incredulous. Planis glanced her way a moment, then returned her attention to Lian.

"And please do not address me as _Emmy_ here in the school." When Lian looked hurt, the professor softened her voice and added, "Off campus it's fine."

"Okay!" Lian brightened, giving the teacher a quick hug before skipping off down the hall again and disappearing around the corner.

Indie moved to follow, briefly catching Planis's eye and shrugging. "Technically, she's not running."

"Technicalities," the professor mumbled, shaking her head. "Isn't _one_ lawyer in that family enough?"

She retreated back into her office without waiting for an answer. Indie giggled for a minute, then followed in the direction that Lian had gone.

She wasn't lucky enough to find the gym deserted. Aubergine, Rhoda, and Kage were all in the middle of workouts as they arrived. They stared at Indie's energetic shadow for a minute, before greeting the two of them and thankfully turning back to their own practice.

Once situated in the arena, Indie watched in anticipation as Lian readied the wine-bottle-shaped thing on her back. She stared, awed, as it transformed into a black mace with a pink handle and green circuitry designs on the sides. The weapon wasn't huge; it resembled a slightly oversized baseball bat more than anything else.

Lian stared at her expectantly. _Oh, right._ Weapons were a lot cooler when _she_ wasn't the one getting smacked around with them. With a slight sigh, Indie unslung Crescent Ranger from her back and reached for an arrow. _Let's get this over with…_

An idea suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, wait a second…"

Lian cocked her head as Indie put the arrow down. "What do you say we skip the sparring for today and I have you climb the rock wall instead?"

Lian's face twisted up in thought. "I mean, maybe… but I really wanted to practice."

"You're here for another week, you'll have plenty of chances to practice." Indie was silently congratulating herself on her sudden brainstorm, and tried to make it seem like a fun alternative. "Come on, combat isn't the only thing you'll have be good at when you're a Huntress. You'll also need to be able to work with the terrain… and make it work for _you_. What if you get cornered by a Beowolf, and your only cover is up a tree that you don't know how to climb? You might survive, but not with your aura intact."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lian looked down. "Um, but I'm wearing a dress. Can I still climb in this?"

"Sure, no problem." Indie retrieved two harnesses from the bin where they were stored, and quickly shimmied into one. "You're wearing leggings underneath, you'll be fine."

Lian shrugged and carefully stepped into the other harness while Indie clipped herself into the rope and checked the belay device. Once Lian had tightened the harness, Indie went to see if it needed adjustment and was pleased to see that it didn't. She grabbed the other end of the rope and clipped the carabiner in. "All right, you're all set."

She was about to coach the girl on climbing commands when Lian approached the wall, and without prompting, asked, "On belay?"

"Belay is on," Indie replied, masking her surprise.

"Climbing?" Lian continued.

Not word for word how Indie had learned climbing commands, but she supposed it was clear enough what they meant. "Climb away!"

xxxxx

Skye turned on the tap and plunged her hands under the stream of water, then swiped them over her sweaty face. Citrine was a _fierce_ fighter, especially for someone who had only been in training for a little more than a year. Skye had initially thought she'd have to go easy on her fellow swordswoman, but after losing nearly a fifth of her aura to Citrine's opening attacks, had been forced to revise that strategy. The girl had obviously been devoting herself to her training; her new family's rigorous workout regime, in combination with whatever was in Flare Academy's curriculum, was undoubtedly working.

Still, Citrine wasn't as frightening an opponent as Lian. Skye gave a quick sigh of relief as she thought of the text Ren had sent the team this morning, thanking them once again for looking out for the two girls for the last week, but that he and Nora would be returning from their mission tomorrow and would be able to pick their daughters up in the evening. Not that Skye didn't appreciate the change of pace, and it was kind of fun to spend time with the two, but she was definitely looking forward to having her room back.

As she brushed her hair back from her face, her hand caught on one of her earrings, and before she could process it, the accessory had popped free of her ear and sailed through the air, landing… "Oh, _shit_!"

Mom wouldn't approve of her using that kind of language, but at the moment, Skye didn't care. She'd just lost one of her favorite earrings down the drain! _Now_ what was she supposed to do?!

"You know, I really hadn't pegged you as the cursing type."

Skye lifted her head and found Citrine staring at her in the mirror. "Yeah, no. I usually don't. But I also don't usually _drop an earring down the sink_!" Skye retorted. Was there any way to get it back? Maybe if she could get Jade to take it apart; Jade knew a lot about practical stuff like plumbing…

Citrine cocked her head. "Is it the same as that one? They're real sapphires, right?"

"Yeah, it's the match to this one," Skye answered, fingering her other earring. "And what's it matter if they're real?"

"Are they or not?" Citrine demanded.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Yes, they're real."

"That's all I needed to know." Citrine stepped over to the sink where Skye had just been standing, and held her hand over the drain. Skye stared; what was this going to accomplish?

"Gotcha!" Citrine jerked her hand away from the sink. She met Skye's eyes in the mirror again before opening her fist to reveal Skye's missing earring, with a triumphant grin on her face. She offered it to the dumbstruck heiress. "Here."

Skye was still staring in disbelief, but finally managed to shake herself out of it and accept the accessory. "Thanks." She fastened it back in place, asking, "How'd you do that?"

Citrine shrugged. "It's my semblance. I can control crystals with my mind. Harder when I can't _see_ them, but I figure I'll never get better without practice and here was an opportunity right in front of me."

"Huh." Skye shook her head, bemused, before starting to consider the practical applications of such an ability. Obviously, she'd just witnessed one potential use for it, but as far as combat… "Can you use it to control Dust crystals too?"

"Yep." Citrine had a tiny smirk on her face. "And I've had it since I was ten, so I built my sword with it in mind. I can levitate Dust crystals into place without touching them, so I don't have to stop fighting to switch effects."

"Nice." Skye had definitely appreciated Citrine's sword when she first saw it. The weapon didn't look like much, just a foot-long dagger with a small diamond-shaped sapphire set into it, but she quickly learned that it extended into a four-foot sword blade with an extremely unique design.

Citrine had chosen to shape her sword hilt like a long, serpentine dragon. The vestigial wings, spread wide, formed the crossguard, and the dragon's body doubled back on itself, with the tail providing finger protection. Skye hadn't gotten a good enough look yet to see the Dust chamber, but Indie had been mumbling excitedly under her breath when she first saw it.

"So are you done for the day, or are you up for another round?" Citrine was asking.

"Ehh, I could go for one more," Skye answered. "As long as you don't mind getting your butt kicked?"

"Oh, you are _on_!" Citrine answered, grinning. "And hey, you were the one who thought you had to go easy on me. Don't insult me like that again."

"Lucky shot," Skye pretended to grumble. Hanging out with Citrine was surprisingly fun, since the girl was older and more mature than Lian, and also didn't have her sister's frankly ridiculous energy reserves. "But trust me, I wouldn't dream of it."

xxxxx

Jade wandered over to the benches where Ren and Nora were watching Aurum fighting Citrine, and plopped herself down next to them. They'd gotten to Beacon only about an hour ago, and had arrived right in the middle of Jade's match against Lian. After Jade had claimed victory, she'd thought they would leave right away since it was already pretty late, but Aurum had immediately protested that she hadn't gotten a chance to go against Citrine yet, so the family had ended up staying a bit longer.

Ren looked her way before returning his attention to the fight, but looked back at her when Jade asked, somewhat hesitantly, "Can I ask you a question?"

Nora, overhearing the question, leaned forward so she could see, her eyes gleaming. "Ooh, d'you need to hide a body?"

"What? No!" Jade answered, trying not to burst out laughing. She really should have expected something like that, asking her question where Nora could hear.

"Nora, stop asking people that," Ren scolded her. "Nobody ever says yes."

"Well…" Jade hedged, "if I _did_ need to hide a body, I probably _would_ go to Nora for help before I asked anyone else."

"Hah!" Nora looked overly pleased with herself for some reason. Jade wasn't sure why—being someone's first choice as an accomplice for hiding a body was usually not considered to be a positive. Ren shook his head in resignation and turned back to Jade.

"What was your _actual_ question?"

"Well…" Jade had come to these two with her question because Nora understood people better than anyone and Ren always gave good advice, and this was kind of a heavy topic, but also because… they were _here_. "Raven visited me here at school, and I don't know if I should tell Mom."

"Oooh…" Nora's eyes lit up at the prospect of gossip. Jade resigned herself to Nora taking over the conversation; Ren would have to settle for getting in anything he wanted to say once Nora was finished. "Well, first of all, yes, you should _absolutely_ tell your mom. Yang won't be happy about knowing Raven keeps tabs on you, but she'll find out eventually, one way or another. Honestly though, I wouldn't be surprised if she already knows, or at least suspects; after all, we all know Raven keeps an eye on _her_ , so why not you, too? But in any case, she'll be even _less_ happy if she knows you kept something like this from her."

Jade had been thinking something along those lines anyway, but to hear someone say it out loud helped. "Okay… so, _how_ do I tell her? I don't want to make her mad."

Nora shook her head. "If Yang gets upset, it will be with Raven, not you." Getting up from her seat and coming to sit behind Jade, she reached out and pulled the teenager into a tight hug. Ren had evidently decided that his input on the matter was no longer needed, since he'd gone back to watching the fight, even though he was clearly still listening. Nora softly continued, "Yang loves you far too much to get angry with you over something like this, as long as you're honest with her about it. You're her entire world."

Jade appreciated both the advice and the embrace. It almost felt like one of her mom's hugs… She let Nora hold her for another minute before starting to pull away. Nora immediately let go and leaned back in her seat. "When did this happen, anyway?"

"Um… third week of classes this semester," Jade answered.

Nora looked incredulous. "And you haven't told her yet?!"

"I haven't had the chance!" Jade protested. "Mom hasn't been at Beacon since the festival, and this isn't the kind of thing I can text her about!"

Nora wrinkled her nose. "Fair enough, I can understand wanting to tell her in person. But please promise me you will tell her next time you see her? Remember what I said about her not being pleased about something like this being kept from her."

"I promise." It was an easy enough promise for Jade to make, since she'd already pretty much decided to tell her mother anyway.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled." Nora turned back to the fight, watching Citrine and Aurum slashing at each other with their respective weapons. Citrine was three inches taller than Aurum, making her look like more of a threat, but with each attack, Aurum was proving that Tournament Champion wasn't a title for decoration. Jade was still trying to decide how to tell Mom about Raven, but… it couldn't hurt to watch the fight in the meantime.

xxxxx

Aurum blocked a swing from Lian's baseball bat, the force of the blow vibrating throughout her body. While she had the advantage, Lian was no slouch and her weapon, whatever it was called, dealt much more damage per strike than Aurora Blaze's thin blades. The only reason Aurum was winning was because she was better at ducking.

Seriously, why was the pipsqueak still here?

It had been a full _week_ since Lian and Citrine had vacated SAIJ's room, but with no school for either of them, the family had ended up sticking around longer than they'd originally planned. Obviously, that was a _good_ thing as far as their training was concerned, but… SAIJ hadn't been able to take any missions during the break because of it. Their last mission had been a rather uneventful Perimeter Defense, and Aurum was itching for more action.

Although her current opponent was actually providing a decent challenge. Lian had come a _long_ way since the last time Aurum had fought her, and the girl was clearly having the time of her life. The slightly sinister grin she'd been wearing the entire time was _so_ eerily like Nora's that Aurum half expected her pint-sized opponent to unfold her weapon and reveal a bunch of heart-shaped grenades. At this point in the match, Aurum was fairly confident that Lian's baseball bat couldn't shoot projectiles, or at least it couldn't _yet_ —if the hinges were any indication, Lian planned to add a gun function to her weapon at some point.

The smaller girl had started off leaving herself a number of openings that Aurum had been quick to capitalize on, but even as they fought, she had watched the number of openings grow smaller and smaller. Really, it was a mark of how skilled Lian was that she could go toe-to-toe with the Tournament Champion at only twelve and a half.

But… it wasn't going to last. Aurum dropped to the floor, reaching out with one hand. As she'd expected, Lian blocked it. In a move that would have made any breakdancer proud, Aurum twisted, lashing out with her left foot and knocking the mace out of Lian's grasp. In the same movement, she slashed downward with her free hand toward her opponent's head.

Lian's green eyes went very wide, and she instinctively swung both hands up in an attempt to protect her face.

Aurum wasn't entirely sure what happened next. One moment, she was feinting left and aiming another strike at the girl; the next, she'd been knocked flat on her back on the floor mat.

A loud _crash_ had her jumping to her feet and looking around wildly. Somehow, Indie had been caught up in… whatever had just happened, and blasted backward into a wall. Her neck was bent at a nasty angle, and even as Aurum watched, her partner's eyes flickered closed and she fell heavily forward.

Nora was there in a flash, catching the unconscious girl before she could hit the ground. The redheaded woman took a hair of a second to make eye contact with her partner—both had been watching the fight, seeing as it _was_ their daughter in the ring—before Ren turned to hurriedly reassure the shocked spectators, and Nora tore out of the room, still cradling the unconscious girl in her arms. Lian was hot on her heels.

Without taking the time to think about it, Aurum dashed after them. It was clear enough they were taking her to the infirmary. Aurum had been totally winded by getting hit with… well, _whatever_ it had been, but Indie had been watching from the sidelines and didn't even have her aura up. No doubt that was why she'd been knocked unconscious instead of anything less severe.

Aurum let her semblance take over and dashed to the classroom building, hoping against hope that Mom was still in her office. Thankfully, the newly minted plaque reading "Blake Belladonna—Grimm Studies" was visible as she approached, the door it was mounted on propped open.

Blake looked up from her desk as Aurum blasted in. "Aurum? What—?

"Just come to the infirmary now!" Aurum yelled, cutting off whatever her mother had been about to say. A split second later, she'd sprinted back out of the office, once again headed for the infirmary. She registered motion out of the corner of her eye and knew that her urgent tone had had the desired effect, and Blake was now rushing along in her wake.

Aurum caught up with Nora, grateful that her little detour had only cost her a few seconds thanks to her semblance. Lian sprinted ahead of the two and pushed the door open, allowing them inside, before letting it swing shut.

Nora gently deposited Indie onto one of the beds, smoothing her dark blue hair back from her face. Aurum was so focused on Indie that at first, she didn't notice who was on call right now until she realized who Nora was talking to. Aurum frowned, a little unsure. She'd known Planis took shifts in the infirmary, but this was her first time being there during one of those shifts. _Am I sure I trust her to take care of one of my best friends?_

Maybe she wasn't sure, but Nora clearly had no such issues since she immediately left Indie's care to the professor. While Aurum had been debating, the teacher had done a quick check of her patient, monitoring her pulse and breathing, before asking in a crisp voice, "How did this happen?"

Lian was nearly in tears. "I don't… I don't know what I did! I wasn't even aiming at her!" She quieted when Aurum squeezed her shoulder.

"We were sparring," Aurum began, taking over the explanation, "and Lian did… _something_ that hit me and Indie. I got the wind knocked out of me, but Indie was only watching and didn't have her aura activated. She flew backwards and hit the wall."

"I see." Planis began running her hands gently over Indie's head, checking for injuries, before leaning over to the side and scribbling something down on her scroll.

The infirmary door burst open, prompting everyone present to look up, startled, as Blake burst through it. It was in that short moment that they were all otherwise occupied, that Indie let out a loud groan, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

xxxxx

Indie struggled to open her eyes. Where was she? This wasn't her dorm, or even her bedroom on Patch. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell that whatever room she was in had extremely bright fluorescent lighting. It _hurt_ , the harshness of it not dimmed much by her closed lids. She tried to turn her head to the side to get away from it.

A pair of hands gripped her shoulders, not tightly, but firmly. A familiar-sounding voice ordered, "No, don't try to move."

It was easier to do as the voice said, so Indie let herself go limp. Surprisingly, opening her eyes didn't require nearly so much effort when she wasn't also trying to move her head. A moment later she managed to blink and saw a few blurry figures. The one closest to her was the one holding her shoulders. Indie blinked a few more times, and the person came into focus: Planis, dressed in a white lab coat over her usual clothes. _So I'm in the infirmary?_ That made sense, given how sore she felt. Had she been… injured, somehow?

"No, I told you not to move!"

Indie hadn't realized, but she'd been trying to reach her arm out. She let it fall back to the bed with a mumbled, "Sorry."

"That's all right, just don't do it again until I tell you to." Planis reached into her pocket for something… a pen? No, not a pen, Indie realized, a miniature flashlight. "Now, follow the light without moving your head."

Indie did as she was told and followed the large letter H that Planis drew in the air with the light, even though it left more bright spots on her vision that she had to squint against. "Ugh… I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks."

Planis glanced back up from where she was recording something on her scroll and gave a small, rare smile. "Technically, the bricks were hit by _you_ , but close enough."

"Garrhh…" Indie mumbled incoherently. It was only then that she realized how tense she was, and made a conscious effort to relax her body. Moving her eyes was easier. Glancing off to one side of her bed, she found two pairs of identical golden eyes watching her worriedly, and had to blink a few more times to make sure she wasn't seeing double before noting that they were wearing different outfits. _Oh, right_ … Aurum had been there when… whatever it was had happened. She was still a little fuzzy on the details, but Blake must have heard and come in after the fact.

Her attention was caught by movement off to the side. Lian's eyes were brimming with tears as she flung herself at the bed. "I… I'm so sorry! I don't know what I did, but I did it, and I'm _so so sorry_!"

The sight of Aurum next to Lian triggered something in Indie's head, and the details of the incident suddenly snapped into focus, making her blink rapidly once again. _Oh… I was watching them fight… and I got hit with… some kind of attack?_ She still wasn't quite sure what it was that Lian had done, but if the little girl was blaming herself, Indie had to put a stop to that.

"Whoa, calm down there, pipsqueak," Indie ordered. She wasn't sure if it was her tone or the familiar nickname that did it, but Lian sniffled and wiped her eyes, making a clear effort to hold in more apologies. "Training accidents happen now and then. You know that, right? This wasn't your fault."

"She's right, you know," Ren spoke up from behind his daughter. He had one hand laid on her shoulder; Indie suspected he'd been using his semblance to keep her calm. Nora and Citrine were there too, looking concerned, but not overly so. "This is why we train the way we do, in controlled environments with immediate medical care nearby."

"Besides," Nora added, reaching out and tugging on one of Lian's braids, "look at it this way: you finally found your semblance!"

"My… semblance?" Lian started scrutinizing her hands, as though the answer might be written on her palms.

"Yep!" Nora nodded vigorously. "Looks like you can shoot some kinda energy blast from your hands. We're gonna have some _fun_ with that!"

Ren shook his head. "Please don't destroy the house."

"All of you, shoo," Planis ordered. "The last shuttle to Vale will be leaving in a half hour. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe classes at both Flare Academy and Rosewood Primary School start back up tomorrow, so you all need to be on that shuttle." She turned back to Indie. "As for you… I can't see any sign of a concussion, but since you did hit the wall hard enough to knock yourself unconscious, I want to keep you here for observation for one night, understand?"

Indie nodded her head in agreement and immediately regretted it as her dizziness returned. She leaned back for a moment to clear her head. Then something else occurred to her and she patted her pockets, finding nothing. "Where's my scroll?"

Aurum handed it over. "You dropped it earlier."

"Oh thanks." Indie opened the device and began typing furiously.

Blake watched, before dryly commenting, "What, you got a hot date or something?"

"Well, not _anymore_ ," Indie grumbled. "If I have to stay here for the night—" She broke off and stared at Blake, who had clearly not been expecting the answer to be yes. "Wait, was that a _joke_?"

Blake shrugged one shoulder, deliberately nonchalant. Indie stared back and forth between her two teachers. It belatedly dawned on her that Planis had made a joke earlier too, when Indie had complained about getting hit by bricks. "Since when are you two comfortable enough to make jokes around each other?"

Indie watched, dumbfounded, as the two exchanged a quick glance. It was Planis who finally answered, "We have… an agreement."

"An agreement." Indie stared. "Guess that whole mission thing worked out after all."

 **This chapter was so much fun to write. I have to be** _ **really**_ **careful how often I have Lian around, because she has this tendency to try and take over entire chapters, but she hasn't made any appearances in a while so I figured it was all right this time. I've been thinking, maybe she'd lighten up a bit if I gave her her own story. Would anyone be interested in reading that? Let me know!**

 **Also, please review, I love hearing from readers!**


	39. Back to School

**As promised, here's the second chapter of the day!**

 **I do not own RWBY. I'm just having some fun and practicing my writing by playing around with the characters.**

 **Back to School**

Jade waited near the airship docks. She wasn't entirely sure that Yang would be arriving this afternoon, or from this direction—the text she'd sent Jade this morning had been frustratingly vague—but Jade knew that her mom had been doing some work outside the kingdom of Mistral most recently, and so traveling by air seemed more likely than traveling by sea or by ground.

Her stomach growled—she'd skipped lunch to be here. Checking the time on her scroll, she decided to allow herself another fifteen minutes before she'd go in to the café and find herself some food.

She only lasted ten. Breakfast had been a long time ago. Her sparring matches against Skye and Rue earlier certainly didn't help her appetite. When her stomach growled again, loudly enough for her to duck in embarrassment as one of the pilots passing by looked around as though expecting to see a Grimm, she decided enough was enough and headed for the academics building.

Being adventurous and ordering a turkey club sandwich rather than her usual grilled ham and cheese, she settled into one of the corner tables to eat her meal by herself.

The sandwich was gone and she'd started on her chips when a shadow fell over her table. Glancing up, she nearly choked on her food, then winced as a sharp corner of one chip caught her in the throat, prompting a coughing fit.

Indie tried to pound her on the back, but Jade waved her off as the snack dislodged itself and she managed to swallow, her eyes watering.

"Well." Yang looked highly amused. "I can't say this is what I was expecting to happen today."

Jade quickly took a big sip of her juice to try and soothe the soreness in her throat where the chip had stabbed her. "I—Mom, how'd you get here without me seeing you? I've only been in here for a few minutes; an airship couldn't _possibly_ have landed so soon!"

Yang grinned. "Didn't come on the airship. I just drove up the cliff." Then her cheerful expression shifted into one somewhere between shock and horror. "Did I forget to mention I've been back from Mistral for a week now?! I've been on Patch, visiting Dad and Ruby. I got to meet the kiddoes while I was there too." Tilting her head toward Indie, she added, "This one's been asking me questions about them the entire way over here from the dorm."

"Hey, come on! I haven't even met them yet!" Indie protested. "I barely know what they look like, and only 'cause I had my parents send me a photo!"

"Yeah, I know." And Jade _did_ know. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself, but she was burning with curiosity about her new cousins. It was undoubtedly worse for Indie, since they were technically her brother and sister now. Due to the team's schoolwork and missions during last semester, and babysitting Lian and Citrine over the break, she still hadn't gotten the chance to get over to Patch for a couple days to meet them.

Yang stole a couple of Jade's chips off her plate. Jade halfheartedly swatted at her, but Yang snaked her hand around her daughter's and popped the stolen snack into her mouth with a wink, then plunked herself into the other chair at the table. Looking up at Indie, she grinned and teased, "Get lost, kid. Me and my baby girl have some serious catching up to do. We haven't seen each other since the Vytal Festival!"

Indie scrammed quickly, probably off to do some more homework or something. Yang tried to steal another chip, but was foiled when Jade decided to pick up her entire plate and held it off to the side, out of her mother's reach. "No, get out of here! I paid for this! If you want to eat something, go order yourself a sandwich from the counter!"

"Aww, you're no fun today." Despite Yang's teasing tone, she did get up and order a burger with fries and a large chicken salad from the counter. Jade cringed a little at that: the school café served excellent food for the most part—they had to; this was a combat school, and students typically burned a lot of calories just in their everyday activities, so they were pretty much always hungry—but the burgers were… not great. She'd ordered them a couple times her first year, but had very quickly learned that the sandwiches, salads, wraps, and soups on the menu were much more appetizing.

Yang didn't seem to mind the mediocre quality, though. She tore into her food, pausing only briefly to comment, "I haven't had anything to eat since I left Patch at dawn this morning, I could eat ten of these!" Jade continued eating her chips at a more normal pace, and they finished at around the same time.

"So." Yang leaned back in her seat and gave her daughter an intense look. "Any news you feel like sharing? Nora mentioned you had something pretty important you needed to talk to me about."

Jade scowled. "Nora needs to learn to keep her big mouth shut."

Yang quirked an eyebrow, grinning crookedly. "Nora knows perfectly well how to keep her mouth shut. Considering how much she loves to talk, she's like a clam when it comes to other people's secrets. All she said was you had something big you needed to tell me."

Still a little disgruntled that Nora had decided to blab, Jade wondered how to start. "I… Well…" She hesitated, then sighed and slumped back in her chair when Yang shot her an _I'm-waiting_ look. Casting a quick glance around the café to ensure that nobody could hear her next words, she quietly said, "Raven visited me here at Beacon."

Yang's eyes flickered red for a brief moment before she closed them, clenching her fists and taking a long, deep breath. Jade watched, fascinated, as Yang reined her temper back in. When her mother opened her eyes again, they were back to their normal amethyst coloration.

"You… I'm glad you told me." Yang squeezed Jade's hand— _not_ with the metal arm, that would have _hurt_ —in a comforting way. "What did she want from you?"

"Wait… what makes you think she _wanted_ something from me?" Jade questioned, somewhat taken aback that her mother already knew.

Yang snorted. "Because Raven never does anything unless there's something in it for her. She wouldn't have come to see you just to say hi."

Jade noted the use of _Raven_. Yang typically reserved the title of _Mom_ for Summer Rose and very pointedly referred to Raven by her first name, but sometimes she slipped and used _Mom_ when she was talking about Raven. It could get a little confusing.

"Well, she tried to… recruit me, I guess. Said her tribe could use someone with my fighting skills and who can turn invisible." Jade caught Yang's alarmed expression, and hurried to add, "I turned her down flat. _After_ I shot her out of a tree. She won't be trying that again anytime soon."

"You… shot her out of a tree?" Yang repeated, incredulous.

Jade nodded.

Yang let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, I wish I could have been there to see the look on her face!" After a moment of grinning to herself, her smile faded, her expression becoming serious once again. "When did this happen?"

"Umm… a few weeks into the first semester," Jade answered.

"And you didn't tell me any sooner?" Yang demanded, suddenly looking hurt. Jade didn't have the chance to say anything before Yang shook her head. "No, I guess that's not the kind of thing you can say in a text, or even over a video call." She slumped back in her seat again. "I guess I can't really blame you… although I wish you'd told me to come to Beacon earlier."

"Wha—Mom, I wouldn't interrupt your mission for something like that!" Jade protested.

Yang fixed her with a dead serious expression. "Jade Xiao Long, if you ever, _ever_ call me and say you need me, I will be there as soon as I can, no questions asked. There is nothing in all of Remnant more important to me than you are." A moment later, in a much quieter voice, she added, "Calling your mother for something important like this… It's not an option I ever had."

There was a quiet fierceness in her mother's eyes as Jade took in her words. She looked down, a little ashamed that she hadn't thought about it in those terms. It took her a minute to be able to speak. "She mentioned my semblance, but other than that, I… I don't even know why she would have wanted me."

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea," Yang replied. She sounded mad, but her eyes hadn't gone red, at least not yet, so that was probably a good sign. "You are on the team that just _won_ the single biggest fighting competition in all of Remnant. If it was _just_ about having a stealth semblance… well, you unlocked it when you were twelve. Raven's had plenty of time to make her sales pitch—and don't even _try_ to tell me she didn't know about it earlier; she clearly keeps tabs on you—so if she never made herself known to you before this… I'm almost certain that's the reason she decided to approach you now."

It made a twisted kind of sense, Jade realized. A bandit tribe that existed on the very fringes of society? Yes, they could definitely have benefited from a powerful fighter like her. While a small part of her mind questioned the likelihood of bandits having the time or the means to watch the tournament, mostly what she felt was relief at turning down Raven's offer.

"I'm only staying for a day or two," Yang began, after a couple minutes of silence. "So… how about we put the time to good use?" She cocked her wrist, activating her Ember Celica weapon, and grinned in a clear challenge. "It has been _way_ too long since we've gotten to face each other."

xxxxx

"Ugh, how much farther to Vale?" Aurum whined.

Jade consulted her scroll. "About four more miles. So we should make it back today, as long as we stay on this road."

Calling the dirt track they were on a _road_ was a bit generous, Indie thought. _Trail_ might have been more accurate. It was unpaved, and barely wide enough for a medium-sized vehicle to pass through.

Indie turned her head halfway to check on her passenger. "You still doing okay, Ivy?"

"Uh-huh," the little girl riding piggyback answered. "You're _sure_ my aunt's waiting for me in Vale?"

Indie gave her a squeeze. "Positive. You talked to her yesterday, remember?"

Ivy nodded into the back of her neck, and Indie smiled to herself. Their Search and Destroy mission had quickly morphed into Search and _Rescue_ when they'd heard screams in the distance two days ago. Running toward the source of the noise, they'd happened across a pretty sizable pack of Beowolves swarming the base of a large maple tree, trying to get their claws on the little girl sheltering among its limbs. Team SAIJ had immediately leapt into action, dispatching the Grimm horde until there was nothing left but smoke. Indie had then swung herself into the branches to retrieve the terrified child.

Her story was surprisingly simple. Ivy told them that she was eleven years old and that she lived with her aunt, who was a trader. Two days ago, she had gotten separated from the caravan they were traveling with. She told them that she hadn't panicked, not then, figuring she could just follow the track back to Vale and meet back up with the caravan there, but had been unlucky enough to stumble onto a few Beowolves along the way. They had chased her, forcing her up the tree for safety. Ivy had forced herself to try and stay calm, and the pack had appeared to lose interest, but when she tried to descend the tree to continue her trek, they'd returned. She'd been in the tree for over a day when another pack decided to join the party, prompting her to lose her grip on calm, and starting to shriek.

It was a good thing they'd been there, Indie decided. Ivy had had no food or water since breakfast the day she'd lost her caravan; she probably wouldn't have lasted much longer out here. Upon finding her, Skye had immediately shoved her canteen at the girl, and not budged until Ivy had drained the whole thing.

All had gone fine until Ivy had tripped over a tree root this morning and sprained her ankle. Not badly, according to Jade, but enough so that she couldn't walk very well. Indie had never been so grateful that medical training was part of the standard curriculum at Beacon than she had been in that moment. They were only about ten miles out from Vale at that point, so rather than calling the situation in and waiting around for reinforcements to arrive, Indie had offered to carry the girl in order for the team to make it back to the main kingdom today. Since she was more of a support specialist than a front-line fighter, she figured it would create less of an issue than if Aurum or Jade had done the same. Now the others surrounded them like a sort of honor guard, as they trekked back toward Vale.

Indie didn't mind the extra weight. Ivy was small for her age.

"Heads up!" Aurum suddenly called. "Big old King Taijitu coming this way!"

Indie muttered a cuss word under her breath, one that she'd picked up from Jade and that she sincerely hoped the girl dangling from her neck hadn't caught. The rude word had barely escaped her lips when Skye shot forward using one of her speed glyphs, and landed on the giant snake's white head. She thrust her sword into the creature, right between its eyes, and made a gesture with her other hand. A series of black glyphs rose into being, pinning the snake's entire body to the ground, while at the same time allowing Skye to accelerate and propel herself along the thing's body like a roller coaster. With her sword firmly lodged in its black head, the monster was neatly cut in half lengthwise before Indie had blinked.

She felt Ivy's weight shift on her back, and wasn't surprised when the girl let out a soft "Wow…" of admiration. Indie was impressed with the stunt herself; she had never seen Skye do _that_ before.

The rest of the trek back was more of the same. Grimm would emerge from cover every few minutes, and Indie would hang back while her teammates quickly dispatched them. Luckily, Huntsman training included ways to keep cool heads, and they never attracted more than a few at a time. Indie kept a tally of how many they'd defeated since encountering Ivy. _Seven Taijitus, thirty-six Beowolves, fourteen Ursai, five Beringels, that one Deathstalker that was practically small enough to squish under a foot… am I forgetting any? Oh yeah, that Boarbatusk that I made crash into a tree. That was fun._

The memory put a small smirk on Indie's face for the rest of the hike. Her semblance did work on Grimm, if they happened to end up in the air. That silly pig had rolled into a ball and tried to launch itself at them, and had wound up bouncing off of a stone that had shot it into the air. It had been child's play for Indie to redirect the airborne Grimm into a large, solid oak tree. The monster had lain there, dazed, for a few seconds until Aurum sliced it into paste with Aurora Blaze.

Finally, the trees seemed to thin, and Aurum let out an excited yell. "I can see lights ahead!"

Aurum's shout was unnecessary, since Indie had also spotted the soft glow of lamps ahead. Only a few more minutes passed before they emerged from the forest onto a much more well-traveled lane. This was the main land route that linked the main kingdom of Vale to the southern villages. There were far fewer settlements to the north, which explained why the road they'd been traveling was in such a rough condition.

A merchant caravan was waiting near the city gates as they approached, and a figure detached itself from the milling crowd, rushing toward them. "Ivy!"

"Aunt Ashe!" Ivy yelled back, sliding down to the ground. Indie winced as the little girl's weight pulled her cape back, and the clasp in front dug painfully into her neck. She reached for her throat and straightened the accessory as soon as Ivy had let go of her.

The woman, whose voice Indie recognized from speaking with her on their call earlier, was hugging the little girl fiercely. "You are incredibly lucky to have survived out there, Ivy. Only think of what might have happened to you if these nice Huntresses hadn't been nearby! Don't ever wander off from the caravan again, understand?"

Ivy nodded sheepishly. "I understand, Aunt Ashe. I won't do it again. Not ever."

Ashe hugged her niece for another minute, then turned her attention to SAIJ. "I can't thank you enough for saving my Ivy. She's the only family I have left after my sister died last year. Please, take this." She tried to shove a handful of Lien at Skye, who crossed her arms and shook her head.

"We can't accept your money, ma'am. We're Huntresses; it's what we do." Skye looked a little uncomfortable, but Indie recognized the stubborn set to her leader's shoulders. There was no way Skye would be changing her mind on this.

She glanced over at Aurum, suddenly very aware of being unarmed. "Hey, give me my weapons back!"

Aurum passed the bow and quiver back to her partner. Indie carefully slid them back into place, noticing as she did that Ashe still had her money out. "Are you sure?" the trader woman insisted. When Skye emphatically shook her head again, closely followed by equally vehement head shakes from both Indie and Jade, she hesitated another moment before nodding reluctantly and putting the money back into her pocket. "What can I do to repay you, if you won't take my money?"

Indie spoke up. "Use your money to hire a Huntsman to escort your caravan, so this doesn't happen again. Grimm are much less likely to attack travelers who are under the protection of an armed guard."

Skye, Jade, and Aurum all nodded in agreement. Small, young Grimm tended to rush people and usually ended up dying for their troubles, and older Grimm were better at recognizing threats to themselves. Simple self-preservation usually kept away any beasts that might pose a threat to an experienced Huntsman.

Ashe pursed her lips for a moment. "You're _sure_ you won't take—"

" _Yes_ , we're sure," Aurum interrupted her. "Taking money from people… that's not the kind of Huntresses we were raised to be."

xxxxx

Team SAIJ had been back from their unexpected Search and Rescue mission for two days, and Skye was concerned about the fact that they had technically abandoned their Search and Destroy mission. It had obviously been the right thing to do—Ivy had no combat training, and it was extremely unlikely that she would have survived the trip back to the kingdom in her weakened state without being protected—but Skye felt it was best to check in with Goodwitch and make _absolutely sure_ that they wouldn't suffer any consequences for it.

She was startled to see Zelty coming out of the Headmistress's office. Was he in trouble? She didn't see how he _could_ be—he was a model student. Something was up.

Skye ran to catch up with him, shocked to see his eyes filling with tears. "Zel, what's going on?" she quietly asked, using her own private nickname for him.

Evidently, her boyfriend had been only barely holding in his tears, because he flung his arms around her and began sobbing into her shoulder. Skye staggered a bit, but managed to keep her balance, and guided him over to a wall so he could lean some of his weight on _it_ instead of her. Not that he was heavy, exactly, but he was essentially deadweight right now. She slid her body down the wall and seated herself at least semi-comfortably, taking him with her and wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to try and calm him down.

Skye wasn't sure how long they sat there, but she was pretty sure it was only a few minutes. Eventually, his sobs tapered off into soft hiccups. She still didn't know what had set this off; Zelty was usually pretty optimistic, and breaking down and crying in public like this wasn't like him.

"I'll take care of him."

 _Huh?_ Skye looked up, startled that she hadn't heard another person approaching. Rue stood a couple steps away from the pair, and as Skye watched, the lancer of Team AZSR closed the remaining distance and laid a soft hand on her partner's shoulder. Her mint-colored aura flickered over both of them, and Skye saw Zelty's gray eyes seem to… unfocus, become blank.

Rue gently tugged on his arm. To Skye's surprise, he went with it, slowly rising up from the floor. The brunette began gently leading him down the corridor.

Skye tagged along, unsure of what had just happened. "Was… was that your semblance, just now?"

"Yeah." Rue spared a brief glance at her partner before elaborating. "I call it 'Night's Bane.' It makes people a little… sleepy? Confused? Whatever you want to call it, most people become a little more… docile… after I use it on them. I don't _like_ to; it feels wrong to impose my will on someone that way, but…" She cast another glance at her compliant charge. "…I think right now, it was the only way to get him back to our dorm."

Skye tried to think of potential uses for a semblance like that. "That seems like it would be useful in the wake of some kind of disaster, during relief efforts when people are scared and confused." A moment later, she added, "You… you knew to come here. So… does that mean you know why he's like this? All I know is he started sobbing into my shoulder and never said anything."

"Yeah, I think I do." With her free hand, Rue fished her scroll out of her pocket and tossed it underhand at Skye, who caught it, a little bit startled. "Open up the News app, it's the last article I read."

A bit apprehensive, Skye did as she was told. The headline of the article jumped out at her.

 _Body Found Identified as Missing Atlesian Reporter_

Skye put her hand over her mouth, her heart sinking. This couldn't be what she thought it was. Skimming the article, she found the name she'd been dreading. "Oh no…"

Rue let out a small breath. "Yeah. His father's dead; it looked like a mugging. I saw the article about five minutes after Goodwitch summoned him to her office, so I came looking for him. I was really hoping he wasn't in trouble, but I didn't want _this_." She looked back at Skye. "You should go on back and see Goodwitch for whatever it was you needed to. I promise, he'll be fine. I'm just taking him back to our dorm and he'll probably sleep for a few hours."

"I—Okay." Skye trusted Rue to look after Zelty; she was his partner, and she was also the kindest person Skye had ever met. She just… didn't want to leave him when he was so vulnerable. "Do me one favor?"

Rue looked over at her expectantly.

"After he wakes up… will you tell him to call my mom?"

Rue looked blank. "I mean, I can do that, but… why?"

"Because…I know he was estranged from his father," Skye answered. "Mom had… a very similar relationship with her own father, and _he_ died recently too."

"Oh, right. I remember hearing about that a while ago." Skye blinked at Rue for a minute, until the other girl shrugged one shoulder. "What? I'm from Atlas, I still pay attention to the local news."

Skye nodded in understanding. "Yeah. Well, I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it—we were never _close_ —but I think… I think she could help. At the very least, she's someone he can talk to, who can probably relate to what he's going through better than anyone here at Beacon."

xxxxx

"I'll take a tuna sandwich with fries and a strawberry smoothie," Aurum told the café attendant. The man nodded at her and relayed her order to one of the other employees on duty. She grabbed a couple napkins and took a seat near the window.

Maybe she was procrastinating. No, there was no _maybe_ about it. She was definitely putting off starting work on her latest DustApps assignment. Why, _why_ did she have to talk about the uses of Dust in civilian society?

The class was called _Practical_ Applications of Dust for a reason. Obviously there were plenty of civilian uses for Dust. Life wouldn't be possible without it. But at the best combat academy in Remnant, why were they studying everyday uses instead of potential combat uses? It was annoying.

Realistically, Aurum knew that the world would grind to a screeching halt if it wasn't for Dust being used in mundane ways. Ice Dust was essential to refrigeration, earth Dust in building and construction, and fire and steam Dust were used to power nearly every vehicle on Remnant's surface. Gravity Dust was needed for airships, while lightning Dust provided electricity. Even Huntsmen who primarily used Dust in combat couldn't survive without food and shelter, and if they didn't have access to transportation or information, they wouldn't be able to do their jobs as well as they needed to. So she could admit, very reluctantly, that she understood why they'd been given an assignment like this.

Aurum sighed in a mix of exasperation and disgust and checked over her notes.

 _Ice Dust is essential to the smooth operation of dining establishments…_

Only a moment later, she was shaken out of her concentration by the arrival of her lunch. She absently nodded her thanks to the attendant who set the plate down on her table. Picking up half of her sandwich and taking a bite, she regarded the smoothie in the cup. _I bet this was made with ice created by ice Dust…_

Despite her best efforts, she was only able to write down a few possibilities. She didn't want to be _completely_ boring and talk about some Dust-powered device that could be found in any household, like lighting or heating, but she also didn't want to try and delve into an obscure topic that she might have difficulty finding any research on. Indie, always the overachiever, had chosen to research solar power and how the Dust required would only be needed to start the process, after which point the energy collected would power the device on its own. Aurum had only understood half the words her partner had used to describe the topic, but if anybody could do it, Indie could.

She was incredibly tempted to call her brother and beg for his help on this. Aqua had never had an interest in combat, but Dust and all it could do had fascinated him for as long as she could remember. The lab he worked in at Vale Tech _had_ to have plenty of research on various Dust uses, right? Her fingers inched toward her scroll… but she stopped herself. _If you call him for help on this assignment… he'll never let you live it down._ With a heavy sigh—the little voice in her head was right—she shoved her scroll into her bag so she wouldn't be tempted again.

Aurum finished the last of her sandwich in two bites, returned her plate to the counter, and left the café, nearly bumping into her mom on the way out. Blake spared a moment to hug her. "How's your day going?"

"It's… well, not great," Aurum admitted. "It's this Dust assignment that's giving me trouble." She wrinkled her nose as she looked over her notes again.

Blake sighed and gave her daughter's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You've always been a smart kid. You won't let a little ten-point assignment keep you from getting your Huntress license, right?"

"It's a twenty-point assignment," Aurum pointed out.

"My point remains the same," Blake replied dryly. "Just do your best. That's all anyone can ask." She hugged Aurum one more time before stepping into the café.

Aurum looked down at her notes again. No, she _wasn't_ going to let one difficult assignment keep her from graduating. Whatever grade she got on this project, it would be better than the zero she'd get if she ignored it. Her fingers tightened on her scroll. She would finish this assignment, and she was going to start working on it _today_.

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter; I've been planning it for** _ **ages**_ **and I'm really happy with it turned out. Muhahaha…**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter!**


	40. Answers and Consequences

**So an update on the progress of this fic. At this point, I'm hard at work writing the beginning of the fourth and final story arc. I hope to finish writing Legacies before V8 begins. Right now, I think it's pretty likely, but if I stay on at my new job for the summer, and I really want to, it may end up being just as crazy as last summer was, so we'll have to wait and see.**

 **I do not own RWBY, I'm just having some fun with the universe.**

 **Answers and Consequences**

Blake checked once again to make absolutely sure her daughter was nowhere nearby, before seating herself at a table. It was… unfortunate timing, for her to run into Aurum right now. She was hopeful Aurum hadn't picked up on her discomfiture, and start to wonder why. Crossing her fingers underneath her plate, she let out a breath.

"The usual, please."

Recognizing the voice, Blake glanced up. The café attendant—Forsythia today—handed Emerald a large sandwich, along with an iced coffee and a salad, before he sneaked a glance over at the occupied table. "Should I… be worried about a fight breaking out in here?"

He was speaking in a very low tone, but Blake, with her Faunus hearing, caught every word. Lowering her head and peeking through her lashes, she was able to see Emerald shaking her head. Forsythia looked a bit skeptical, but finally shrugged.

Blake hadn't been sure about this meeting at first. She was still wary around Emerald, but so far, the other teacher had been completely civil toward her. The entire time leading up to the mission Glynda had forced on them, she hadn't been _friendly_ , exactly, but she'd been professionally courteous toward Blake and very polite to the students. As far as Blake could tell, Emerald didn't even hold a grudge for the beating Blake had given her at the beginning of the school year.

The little they'd said to each other during the mission itself had only served to amplify the tension between the two of them. Blake didn't trust the other woman as far as she could throw her, but Emerald had seemed to be expecting Blake's hostility, and had remained unfazed. She'd made the effort to smile and try to make casual conversation. Blake had answered with grunts or monosyllables for two days. It had been on their third morning outside the kingdom when she'd finally snapped; it had been a cold, rainy day, and Emerald had offered her a travel mug full of hot coffee, with a smile. Blake couldn't take it any longer.

 _Why are you being so nice to me?! What are you planning?_

 _You're radiating enough hostility to draw in a serious Grimm horde, and I'm not naïve enough to think you'll let me treat any injuries you might take in a battle. So I'm watching your back. Both of us need to make it back to Beacon,_ _ **alive**_ _._

 _What do you care if_ _ **I**_ _make it back alive?_

 _Give me some credit for having at least a little self-preservation—if you go and get yourself killed out here, your family will tear me to shreds!_ Emerald's guard had slipped for the briefest moment, exposing a raw emotion Blake had never expected from her, before she'd turned away. _And… I don't want to see anyone else die because of me._

Much as Blake hated to admit it, Emerald had a point about getting torn to pieces. Yang and Weiss, especially, wouldn't take learning of Blake's death well. So for the rest of the mission, she'd been—well, not _nice_ , because that would imply that she trusted Emerald, and she most certainly _didn't_ , but she'd made a concerted effort to be… courteous, at the very least.

"Why did you want to see me?"

Blake looked at her dining companion with wary eyes—an expression that was mirrored on Emerald's own face. "I want to know… how did you find your way _here_?" She gestured around, indicating Beacon. "Last time I saw you—before this year, I mean—you were being carried out of Haven, unconscious, while the splinter White Fang was being rounded up outside. How do you go from _that_ to getting hired on at the same school you helped to destroy?"

Emerald frowned. "I don't remember much from the beginning. My semblance has some nasty side effects if I overuse it." She sighed and shifted in her seat. "You really don't ask easy questions, do you?" She didn't wait for a response. "It's a… long story. After I ran away from Haven, I was… very disoriented from using my semblance on so many people at once. So disoriented that I didn't recognize Hazel or Mercury after I regained consciousness. I thought they were there to hurt me, so I ran away from them."

"You… ran away," Blake repeated.

"Yes, I _ran_. Literally. As in, fled the scene and ended up in the forest outside the city of Mistral." Emerald paused to empty a packet of dressing onto her salad. Blake was still a little suspicious—how could someone _eat_ while recounting something like this?—but she'd promised herself that, despite her misgivings, she'd give Emerald the chance to tell her story, so she didn't interrupt.

"Where did you go?"

Emerald glanced back up from inhaling her salad; Blake didn't think she'd ever seen anyone attack their food with such enthusiasm, not even Nora. "I didn't exactly have a destination in mind. I was nearly delirious—I still don't know how long I wandered around the forest… It must have been days, since I ended up over thirty miles from Haven. A hunting party found me collapsed on the ground, unconscious, about… maybe half a day's travel from their village?" She shuddered. "One of them told me later, that they thought I was dead at first. I guess I must have… moved, or given some other indication that I _wasn't_ dead quite yet, because I don't think they would have bothered with me otherwise. But they did, they brought me back to their village."

"What village?" Blake asked, less skepticism this time than genuine curiosity.

"It's called Shasta," Emerald replied. Blake shook her head, indicating that no, she'd never heard of it, before Emerald continued, "It's about…" She considered. "… well, like I said, more than thirty miles from Haven."

When Blake didn't say anything, Emerald continued. "Considering what bad shape I was in, I… doubt you'll be surprised to find out that the hunters immediately left me with the village healer. Perla told me I was unconscious in her house for almost three days before finally waking up."

"And then you tricked her into taking you on as an apprentice," Blake muttered. "I'm surprised you didn't just kill her and leave—she must have been incredibly gullible."

Anger flared on Emerald's face as she clenched one fist, making Blake pin her ears in fear. It was the first time she'd seen Emerald show anything besides a pleasant—or at the very least neutral—face since encountering her at the beginning of the year.

"Perla took me in when I had nothing," Emerald snapped, her red eyes furious. " _She_ never made me use my semblance to help her pursue her own goals, or named me _thief_ to remind me she was better than me. You will not say _one more word_ against her, or you'll meet me in the arena!" The implication was clear.

Through her fear, Blake felt her own temper flare at the threat, before she pushed it firmly back down. Trial by combat wasn't an uncommon way to resolve disagreements between Huntsmen, so there was something of a precedent in place for a situation like this, even if Emerald wasn't technically a Huntress. Fine. Blake got the point, and it wasn't worth arguing over. "What do you mean, she never named you thief? That doesn't make any sense."

Emerald rolled her eyes, her anger seeming to flicker and die. " _Sustrai_ means _thief_. It's from… an old southern Anima dialect, from back before the continent was united under one banner as the kingdom of Mistral. Not too many people still know any of the old languages, so I'm not surprised you didn't know. _I_ certainly didn't."

Blake shrugged; that made sense. Historically, there had been many different languages spoken in the different parts of Remnant, but as global communication had been firmly set in place, the need for a single, worldwide language had arisen. One had been chosen—she wasn't entirely sure how the decision had been made as to which one—but the other dialects had faded into obscurity over the last handful of generations.

"Of course, I never realized until Perla asked me if I had a last name." Emerald's tone was bitter. "I'd say giving me that name was Cinder's idea of a joke, if I'd thought she'd ever had a sense of humor. But Perla called me _Planis_ —wanderer—and I decided to take the name for myself. It was certainly more appropriate, since I was a healer's apprentice by then and not a street thief anymore. And it was the longest I'd ever spent in one place my whole life." Emerald stirred her coffee, not meeting Blake's eyes. "I also did a lot of defense for the town while I lived there… not a _lot_ of Grimm tried to breach the walls, but enough that I'm still a little surprised Salem never found me."

"How do you know she didn't?" Blake wanted to know.

Emerald glanced back up, her annoyance at what she clearly considered a stupid question obvious. Blake wondered if she showed that face to her students. "Because if she _had_ , I wouldn't still be breathing right now. Salem would _not_ have tolerated such a betrayal."

That… was actually a valid point. Blake frowned, her attention caught by a certain part of Emerald's sentence. "Wouldn't… past tense? You… you know about Salem's defeat?"

"Of course I do," Emerald answered, her annoyed look fading. "Glynda told me the fate of every single one of Salem's forces when she admitted she knew who I was—plus I already knew about some of them. Shasta might have seemed like the middle of nowhere, but it's close enough to the main kingdom that we got a pretty clear CCT signal, once the Beacon tower was rebuilt." She paused for a moment, an unreadable expression flickering over her face for a moment, then continued, "Salem herself was incapacitated. I don't know what's left of her—Glynda didn't tell me any more than that." She shuddered. "I didn't want to know any more details, either. Roman Torchwick, Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, Arthur Watts, Adam Taurus… all confirmed dead."

Emerald recited the names with a sort of bland detachment, but Blake still flinched at hearing the name Adam Taurus, and immediately began mentally berating herself for it when Emerald's eyes narrowed. "Who killed him, do you know?"

"I did," Blake answered shortly, not wanting to dwell on it. Emerald looked almost disappointed at getting so little reaction. "But continue with the rest."

"Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart: status unknown, presumed dead. Nobody _saw_ them die, or at least nobody's testified to witnessing their deaths, but they haven't been seen in over two decades. Between Hazel's size and Tyrian's… _instability_ , for lack of a better word, they'd probably draw plenty of attention wherever they go, so it seems safe to assume they're dead." Emerald considered. "I don't have any idea what happened to Neo, though. Glynda couldn't tell me anything about her. Do you know?"

Blake shook her head. Teams RWBY and JNIPR had never learned anything about Neo's whereabouts. The only conclusion they'd been able to draw was that if Neo was still alive, she would most likely have come after them by now… but that had never been anything more than speculation, and they'd had the same thought about Emerald, who as it turned out was neither dead nor hell-bent on revenge. Not that she'd mention that. She motioned for Emerald to continue.

Emerald polished off the last few bites of her sandwich and set the plate off to the side. "Where was I?... Oh, my life in Shasta: working as Perla's apprentice, and killing the occasional Grimm. I might have stayed there—I had a good life there—but Perla decided she was getting too old to live so far away from civilization, so she moved to Vale to live with her daughter." Emerald paused for a moment, a small smile appearing on her face. Blake was startled to see the emotion there. She hadn't missed the genuine fondness in Emerald's tone when she spoke of Perla, but to see that mirrored in her expression was something else.

"She said she'd taught me everything she knew," Emerald went on, "and I'd do better learning at a state-of-the-art medical facility like Vale Central than staying with an old, set-in-her-ways village healer. She never did tell me how she managed to get me my internship there, but that's where I spent the next three years."

Blake did some quick math. Seven years in Shasta, and three at Vale Central… that was ten years, nine of which were spent in medical training. That checked out with Glynda saying that Emerald had had nine years of training before coming to Beacon. "So you did an internship and that's what brought you back to Vale. Why didn't you stay there, though? Why come back to Beacon and risk exposing yourself?"

"That anxious to get rid of me, huh?" Emerald didn't look offended, though, and continued, placing her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand. "I liked it, but… it never felt… quite right." A small frown appeared, but it was gone a moment later, and she continued, "My supervisor did offer me a job. After I turned him down, he suggested I apply here, because the professor who taught Field Medicine was about to retire, and he knew I had background in responding to emergencies in the field."

"I… guess that makes sense," Blake mumbled. "But still… Beacon? The same school you helped to _destroy_?"

"You don't have to remind me of that." Emerald's voice had taken on a somewhat sharp edge. "I am _fully_ aware of the irony of working at this school. But… the job came with room and board, and in the end I decided that was too good to pass up."

Blake was sure her confusion showed on her face. "I mean, living on campus is nice; it's easier than commuting, but it's not exactly a deal-breaker. What's it really matter?"

Emerald's gaze morphed into a hard glare. "I lived on the street my _entire life_ before Cinder found me, eating out of the trash and getting beaten and having rocks thrown at me just for _existing_. If I hadn't gone with Cinder—and if she hadn't _killed_ me for refusing her offer—I doubt I would have lived more than another two years or so. Maybe five if I was lucky. A job that automatically comes with food and a safe place to sleep? I'm not stupid, I _knew_ I was risking my life by returning here, but _that_ was too good an offer to let it go to waste."

Blake made a noncommittal noise, a little uncomfortable with the latest turn the conversation had taken. The picture Emerald had painted of her younger years certainly wasn't a pretty one, and there was a haunted look in her eyes that made Blake think she was telling the truth. No wonder she and Nora had bonded… the two _were_ more similar than they were different.

Emerald shifted in her seat, working the kinks out of her back. The café chairs weren't the most comfortable. "So that's my sob story. Is that what you wanted to hear?" She twisted around and aimed her next words toward the empty corner. "And you four, did you hear what you were hoping for?"

xxxxx

Jade let out a yelp and lost control of her semblance. She grabbed for it in a desperate attempt to cover them all again. Her gut told her it was futile, though—she'd seen the exact moment Blake registered their presence. Her golden eyes focused on the team, zeroing in on their identities, and her expression cycled through several different emotions before settling into a blank mask of calm. Jade reluctantly gave up and let go of her semblance completely, preparing herself for the inevitable chewing-out.

"How'd you know we were here?" Aurum demanded. Blake looked like she wanted to reprimand her daughter for being rude, but the green-haired professor answered the question before she could.

"I didn't." Planis looked just the tiniest bit smug as she said it.

Jade bit back a curse. _She was just_ _ **guessing**_ _?!_

"You four…" Blake's expression told Jade that the Faunus wanted to chastise all four of them, not just her own child. "How long have you been there? How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Skye answered cryptically.

"Is that so…" Planis considered them with a neutral gaze for a moment, then crossed her arms over her chest and gave them all a severe look. "Then I think… two weeks' detention for once again eavesdropping on a conversation not meant for your ears."

"Two weeks?" Aurum protested. "But we only got one week last time!"

Planis eyed them, her expression remaining unchanged. "The lesson clearly didn't sink in last time, so now you get more. Two weeks, starting next Monday… and no missions or leaving campus until your sentence is served."

"But—" Aurum began to protest once more. Skye promptly lunged sideways and slapped a hand over her Faunus teammate's mouth.

"Shut up! D'you want even _more_ detention?!"

Aurum shook her head. Skye removed her hand and looked back at the two teachers. "Um… we're… we're gonna go now."

They'd made it nearly to the door when a voice behind them caught up to them. "And as for you specifically, Miss Xiao Long…"

Jade turned around, her heart sinking. Was she about to get even more punishment, that her teammates weren't getting? Sure, they wouldn't have been able to eavesdrop without her semblance, but the whole thing had been Aurum's idea, not hers! And they still had at least three missions to complete this year in order to meet their quota; Skye was _not_ going to be a pleasant person to be around for the next few hours. Or days.

Planis was still giving her that pleasant smile. If she didn't stop with that soon, Jade was going to start calling it her "customer service" face. "I highly recommend you practice _not_ losing your grip on your semblance when you get startled."

Jade mumbled an affirmative, then beat it out of the café and down the hall before either teacher could say anything else. Maybe she wasn't getting slapped with more detention, but she wasn't about to stick around and wait for them to change their minds.

xxxxx

"Well, it's _progress_."

Indie's words carried a conviction that she wasn't sure she fully believed. True, finding Blake sitting at a table with someone she'd legitimately tried her best to kill only a few months ago was preferable to her _actually_ killing them, but Indie hadn't missed how wary Blake still seemed about her coworker's presence, and she doubted any of her teammates had missed it either. The two teachers might have reached an _agreement_ , as they'd put it earlier, but it was clear they still didn't entirely trust one another.

"Baby steps," Skye agreed. "At least they're talking." A somewhat conflicted expression crossed the team leader's face. Indie knew Skye still wasn't sure how she felt about Planis herself, but she'd at least agreed to give the professor the benefit of the doubt, and try not to jump to conclusions.

Aurum, lying on her bed on her back, with her head dangling off the side, offered, "I mean, it's better than Weiss and Yang showing up and trying to kill her, right? Yang was already on campus once at the same time as Planis, _after_ finding out who she is, I mean, and she didn't try anything."

Jade shrugged from where she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "Mom _was_ only here for a couple days, and she was pretty preoccupied with catching up with me at the time."

Skye eyed her partner. "Do you honestly think your mom would have wasted the opportunity to punch somebody if that person had hurt someone she cared about?"

"No," Jade answered. "Not really." She didn't add anything else; she didn't have to. Yang _did_ have a quick temper, that was rivaled only by Skye's, but Jade had clearly been unhurt, so there wouldn't have been any need for Yang to go on a one-woman teacher-punching rampage.

"I hate this!" Aurum groaned. "And now we have even _more_ detention!"

Indie sat up so fast she nearly fell off her bed and glared at Aurum. "Excuse me?! This whole 'let's spy on our teachers again' plan was _your_ idea! You shouldn't be surprised we have detention after last time! And now, because _you_ couldn't keep your big mouth shut, we can't leave campus for two weeks on top of it!"

"How was I supposed to know she'd give us a punishment like that?" Aurum groused.

"If you hadn't said anything, we might have gotten away with _just_ two weeks' detention," Jade pointed out. "Instead, now we have two weeks of detention _and_ we're basically grounded." She glared accusingly at the Faunus. "You are _twenty years old_ , Aurum; you're an adult now! Maybe you should start acting like it once in a while!"

Eep. Indie hadn't meant for everybody to gang up on Aurum, but now it seemed like the rest of the team had decided to take out their frustrations on the Faunus. Or, well, two-thirds of the team. Indie hadn't missed the fact that easygoing Jade was yelling at Aurum, or that hotheaded Skye had yet to raise her voice at all.

Indie snuck a look at their leader, sitting cross-legged on top of her desk. Rather than the raging fury at their predicament that she'd been expecting to see, the heiress looked more… thoughtful. That was certainly… unusual. Indie had never known Skye to hold back her temper. Between that and Jade's outburst… this was turning into a very weird day.

xxxxx

Skye was not happy with the latest turn of events. They were essentially grounded to Beacon's campus for two whole weeks. While that maybe wasn't such a big deal, this was the _second_ punishment they'd been given for eavesdropping this year, when they'd made it two years without getting into any trouble whatsoever! Ridiculous.

Indie had been sulking the last couple days; she'd been planning to go home for a weekend to meet her new brother and sister, but now, with the team being restricted to campus, she'd had to call up her parents and cancel on them. They had, of course, demanded to know _why_ she was flaking, and after she'd given them the story, had scolded her profusely for getting caught listening at doors. _Not_ , Skye noticed, for listening at doors period, just for getting caught at it. She'd decided years ago that Ruby and Ilia had very skewed views of what was considered acceptable behavior, but this took it to a new level.

As upset as Indie was, it could have been worse. She'd had to cancel her second date with Dusty over the break, after her injury from Lian's newly-discovered semblance and her subsequent confining to the infirmary, but they'd rescheduled for only a few days later. Their next date wasn't for another week, and SAIJ's punishment would be over by then.

Skye poked at her _Advanced Aura Theory and Practice_ textbook, open on the desk in front of her. "Stupid teacher conflicts that we can't help but be curious about…" she grumbled as she flipped through the pages until she found the heading she was looking for. "And stupid invisibility semblance…"

Jade wasn't in the room at the moment, or Skye never would have said something like that out loud. She was getting into bad habits; once she graduated and had to play the perfect heiress more often, she wouldn't be able to show a face like this to the media. _Might as well enjoy it while I can though, right?_

The silence in the room seemed deafening all of a sudden. Skye jabbed at her scroll, pulling up her playlist. Some music to fill the empty room would help her concentrate, right?

It did help. She kept the volume on minimum, but it was still enough to break up the oppressive silence, and this particular chapter actually wasn't that bad, just long. Being grounded meant that she was ahead on all of her academic assignments (and she'd made absolutely sure that her teammates were staying on track with their own homework—she never had to worry about Indie, but Aurum was easily distracted from book work and Jade sometimes had difficulty with academics, having never gone to school before Beacon). Punishment or not, this time was _not_ going to be allowed to go to waste.

Skye was determined that by the time their punishment was over, the team would have completed most their book work for the year, allowing them free rein to take whatever missions they wanted until the semester ended.

xxxxx

Aurum hadn't missed the fact that her teammates were being especially chilly to her since the whole spying-on-their-teachers-again debacle. She knew full well that she deserved it—the whole thing _had_ been her idea, after all—but still. They were teammates; they were _supposed_ to have each other's backs. But at least they weren't giving her the silent treatment. That was the only bright spot, though. It didn't help that Pitch was off on a mission of her own right now, so there was no possibility of cuddling with her girlfriend to try and help distract her from the whole thing.

So Aurum had found someone else to spend the time practicing with.

"Ungh!" she grunted as she blocked the shimmering silver khopesh. Cerulea had put a lot of force into her latest blow, and wasn't backing down. Aurum tried for a dirty trick that Jaune had taught her years ago: kicking at the side of her opponent's knee to make the turquoise-haired girl lose her balance.

It worked, sort of. While Cerulea's weight shifted to the side as she fell to one knee, she also didn't remove her weapon from Aurum's wrist. They'd agreed on no semblances on this particular fight, which was good—Aurum had been on the receiving end of Cerulea's granite fists before and had no desire to repeat the experience—but that meant she couldn't dissolve into shadow to escape her current predicament, or the match would go to Cerulea by default.

Aurum feinted another kick up high, then slashed downward at Cerulea's shoulder when the pigtailed girl went to block it. Aurum wiggled free, and swept the girl's legs out from under her, then put a foot squarely on her chest.

"I give, I give!"

Smirking, Aurum let up and held out a hand. Cerulea accepted it and allowed the cat Faunus to haul her to her feet. "Not bad, not bad at all. I needed that." She swiped a few loose hairs out of her eyes before reaching for the canteen she'd brought with her and guzzling its contents.

Aurum did the same with her own water bottle, enjoying the cool lemon water she'd decided to bring for a little something different.

"Ya know," Cerulea began, "Things are really starting to look up for my team."

Aurum glanced over. "Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well, we had that Search and Rescue mission earlier this year, remember? Had no idea the Council would make such a big deal over us rescuing a twelve-year-old kid, but our faces were all over the news for a couple days." Cerulea set her canteen down. "Thank all the gods for Ro; we never would have been able to find the kid so quick if not for her. Then we took apart that Grimm horde while we were in Crest last week, remember that? Now people are actually taking us seriously for a change, and our ranking's gone way up. We're almost even with AZSR now." She made a face. "Your team still holds the top spot, though. Any way we could knock you out of it?"

Aurum could tell Cerulea was kidding, but she still didn't want to say the wrong thing and set her friend off. "I mean, my team kinda had an unfair advantage from the start. We already knew each other, we'd fought together before, we didn't have to go through the awkward getting-to-know-you part or adjust our fighting styles to work with each other. We could get right to the whole killing-monsters part."

"Yeah, I know." Cerulea eyed her. "Doesn't look like you're getting along with them too well at the moment, though."

Aurum scowled. "Yeah, well, they'll get over it."

"Riiight." Cerulea looked skeptical. "Why are they mad at you again?"

"Umm…" Aurum tried to think of the best way to be honest with Cerulea, but without revealing too many details. All the students at Beacon knew that their Grimm Studies and Field Medicine teachers didn't get along—the two weren't exactly subtle with their animosity—but the story behind their enmity wasn't common knowledge, and Aurum wanted to keep it that way. "I… had an idea… and my team did something dumb and got caught. Now we've got detention until Friday, and we can't leave campus until then either, and they're blaming me."

"Did any one die?" Cerulea asked. "Or get injured? Or anything get irreparably damaged?"

 _SAIJ's reputation_ , Aurum thought. That was probably what Skye thought, anyway. But she didn't say it out loud. "No, nothing like that happened."

Cerulea rolled her eyes. "Then they'll get over it. Everyone does dumb things now and then, but this… it doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would irreversibly tear your team apart."

 **I had to do almost zero editing on this chapter, since it was almost exactly what I wanted from the beginning. Isn't it great when that happens? :D**

 **Please leave a review!**


	41. A Sudden Absence

**Well, this chapter gave me some difficulty. Guess that's only fair, since the last chapter was so easy.**

 **I do not own anything except my own original characters created for this story.**

 **A Sudden Absence**

Growing up on the road, Jade had long since become used to seeing weird things. Almost nothing fazed her anymore. A bar fight turning into an all-out brawl? Knock out as many of the combatants as she could, as quickly as possible, and toss them outside to deal with later. A Geist possessing the remains of a demolished house and scaring the shit out of the former homeowners? Kill the Grimm, then reassure the civvies, in that order. Yang punching out some rando who had tried to touch her hair? Well, they should have known better than to try and mess with a woman who was obviously a Huntress in the first place.

But stumbling upon one of her friends slumped against the wall in outside a classroom, sobbing her eyes out? That was new.

"Hey, Scar? What's… what's going on?"

Scarletta lifted her face from her arms and looked up at Jade, her violet eyes red and swollen. She took a few hiccup-y sounding breaths, then spoke in a voice that was raspy from crying. "It's…" She gave anther light sob. "Team Orchid got back from their mission about an hour ago. They…" She choked off again, sniffling.

Jade was aware of an awful sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. In a voice suddenly hoarse with dread anticipation, she was able to croak out, "Who…?" But she couldn't finish the question.

She didn't need to, though. Scarletta understood what she was asking, and her tone was thick with emotion as she replied, "RJ."

"Oh no…" Jade didn't know the members of Team ORKD very well. They were fourth-years like RUST, but SAIJ knew RUST mostly through Indie and Aurum's friendship with Tanso, and none of them had any such connection to the members of ORKD. Jade was able to conjure up a vague image of a tallish guy with short purple hair and a gray cargo vest. There were two guys on Team ORKD… Was he the one who used a broadsword, or was he the knife thrower? Jade couldn't remember. The only other thing she knew about him was that it had been something of a running joke that he wouldn't tell anybody what "RJ" was short for. But none of that made this any less awful.

Scarletta was clearly taking the news hard—as she should be; RJ had only been a few months away from graduating, and the members of RUST were pretty close to ORKD. Jade couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone from CROM or AZSR at this point… and the possibility of losing one of her teammates was unthinkable. She sat down on the floor next to her friend, slipping her arms around the older girl in an attempt to comfort her. Scarletta let out another juddering breath, then seemed to go limp, slumping into Jade and leaning her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

Softly, the redhead continued, "I know… this was the risk we took… signing up for the life we did. But still… there were just… so many Grimm. I wish…" She trailed off for a moment. "Olive saw him fall. She wouldn't let them touch him. The others had to carry both of them back to Vale; she's in the infirmary now, unconscious. I guess she was nearly hysterical when they got back to Beacon… she wouldn't let anyone near her. They had to knock her out, just to treat her injuries." She sniffled again. "I don't know what'll happen to their team now. I mean, the others might be able to figure things out and move on with their lives, but Olive lost a lot more than her partner. She lost her fiancé—I know they weren't technically engaged yet, but we all know they were planning to get married right after graduation."

Jade rubbed small circles on Scarletta's shoulder, wishing she could say something to make her friend feel better. This hadn't been her fault. It wasn't unheard of for students to lose their lives on missions, but… it happened infrequently enough that it was always a shock when it _did_ happen. The whole school would probably band together in their grief for the next… however long it took. Maybe RJ hadn't been a close friend to anyone besides the fourth years, but all of the students at Beacon were comrades in arms to a point, and the death of a classmate would be a sobering reminder to everyone else of their own mortality.

What _was_ going to happen to Olive now? Jade had seen plenty of Huntsmen who moved on after losing someone important to them… but she'd also seen plenty who hadn't. She could only hope that Olive fell into the first category, although only time would tell. "How…" Her voice was choked from holding in her own emotion. She tried again. "How long… did RJ and Olive know each other?"

Scarletta closed her eyes. "I think… since they were eleven or so? That's when Olive's family moved to Vale, and they were already friends by the time I met them at Flare. I… what must she be going through right now?"

Jade squeezed her friend's shoulder. "I think the only thing you can do right now is be there for her. You said she was in the infirmary, right?" She waited for Scarletta to nod hesitantly, then continued, "Then go. Be there when she regains consciousness. I think… she'll be much better off if she has someone there with her."

xxxxx

Skye reached out a hand, then hesitated. She'd been standing outside AZSR's dorm room for something like ten minutes now, never able to actually bring herself to knock. Why was she having so much trouble with this?

She was here for a reason. Zelty had become quiet and subdued ever since learning of his father's death, isolating himself in his team's room and not speaking to anyone. Skye was sure that learning of a classmate dying so soon afterwards couldn't have been good for him. She suspected, based on the not-so-subtle hints that Aubergine and Rue had been giving her, that he had been a little depressed for a while, and while he'd managed to shake off some of it for a couple of days, learning of a classmate's death had evidently sent him sliding back down.

She'd left him alone, up until now. Everybody dealt with their grief differently, and she wasn't going to interfere. If he wanted her company, she'd told him more than once that all he had to do was ask her. But he hadn't.

Now, here she was. Trying to follow through on the rather strongly worded advice Aubergine had given her earlier today and just talk to him for a few minutes.

Skye raised her fist again, and before she could lose her nerve once more, knocked lightly but firmly on the wood. She heard a muffled, "One second!" before a series of thumps sounded, and a minute later, the door opened to reveal brown hair along with a lot of black and green.

Rue's tired expression raised a number of questions in Skye's mind, but the other Atlesian girl only directed her friend's attention to the other side of the room. Zelty sat on his bed, staring at them blankly. There was an open textbook next to him, but it didn't look like he'd been reading it.

"Have you still been using your semblance on him?" Skye whispered, unable to keep the accusation out of her voice. Rue quickly shook her head.

"No, I told you I don't like doing that! It's too much like drugging someone—I won't do it without their consent unless it's an emergency. He's been like that for a while. Not all the time," the girl hastily added. "Sometimes he'll go to the extreme in the other direction, constant motion. He'll pace when he's reading from a textbook, or fidget with his knives. Somehow, he's still making himself do all his schoolwork—I don't know how, but his grades aren't slipping at all—but… it's obvious he's just going through the motions. I'm glad you're here—seeing you might be what he needs to snap out of it."

Skye carefully sat down on the bed next to him. She knew Zelty had registered her presence—she saw the flicker of recognition in his eyes—but neither one of them said anything. She reached over and took his hand, only barely aware of the door closing as Rue quietly exited the room, leaving the two of them alone. Neither one moved for several minutes.

Finally, just as Skye was about to say something, _anything_ , to break the silence, Zelty shifted, his fingers curling around hers. "I'm sorry… I've been so out of it lately. I haven't been a very good boyfriend." He tried to smile at her as though nothing was wrong. Skye didn't buy it for a second; there were shadows under his eyes, and his smile was very strained. She appreciated that he was trying to put on a brave face, but didn't he realize he didn't need to pretend around her?

"If you're not over it yet… that's all right."

They lapsed back into silence for a few minutes.

"I… I talked to your mom."

Skye turned and looked at him. "You did? When? What did she say?"

"A few days ago, before… well, before ORKD. She said… she said a lot of things. But most of it added up to that I shouldn't try and _make_ myself feel bad. If I'm not sure how to feel… that's all right." He broke off for a second. "But… I feel worse about losing one of my classmates—someone I barely knew—than I do about losing my father. Does that make me a terrible person?"

"No." There wasn't a shred of doubt in Skye's mind on that particular point. "You are _not_ a terrible person, and I don't think you could be if you tried. I think… that Mom probably felt the same way, when her father died a few months ago. She never saw eye to eye with him and they hadn't really been on speaking terms in years. So… she knows what she's talking about." She paused a minute to see if he would respond. When he didn't, she continued, "Did it help? Talking to her, I mean?"

"I… yes. It did." Zelty was quiet for a moment. "She said the same thing, about not being a terrible person. Your mom is… I don't even know how to thank her for this."

Skye squeezed his hand. "You don't have to. I know she comes across as cold and unfeeling to a lot of people, so… if she's being open and welcoming to you, that means she really likes you."

"I know."

The silence resumed once again, but it was a much more comfortable silence this time. Skye was content to sit there, providing whatever support and reassurance she could.

"There was… one other thing I wanted to tell you," Zelty said suddenly. His voice had gotten much stronger than it had been when Skye first sat down. She turned her face toward his. Was that progress? Skye hoped so, but she suspected it was too soon to be sure. She waited expectantly for him to continue.

"My mother contacted me. Yesterday."

"Oh." Skye wasn't sure how to respond to that. Cautiously, she ventured, "Is that… good?"

Zelty shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know yet. I haven't seen her since my parents' divorce was finalized; that was over five years ago. I… I want to think she's sincere about making it up to me, but… she left me. Alone."

In a sudden burst of emotion, Skye leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. He seemed startled at first, but quickly relaxed into her. Softly, she said, "I can't make any decisions for you. But… if you decide to go through with it, I'll be here for you."

"I don't have any right to ask that of you," Zelty mumbled into her hair.

"Shush. I'm just trying to be a good girlfriend." Skye frowned at him. "You need more people on your side. So I'm here if you need me."

xxxxx

Indie had been forewarned about RJ's death by Jade, so she hadn't been completely blindsided when the entire school suddenly seemed to go into mourning. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the week, and everybody she saw was expressing their grief… some in healthier ways than others. Yesterday, two students had started yelling at each other in the courtyard, shouting about something that Indie couldn't figure out. She thought she'd have to physically break them up, until one student rocked back on his heels and collapsed to the ground on his butt, sobbing. The other student, evidently his partner from the way she reacted, immediately shut up in response, and fell to trying to soothe him.

Everybody dealt with their grief differently, Indie knew that. She hadn't known RJ very well, but the school wasn't so big that she didn't at least know the names of the students outside her own year. She'd admired RJ's knife-throwing abilities a time or ten, and the sudden, glaring reminder that she was only human had her retreating into her books more than usual, looking to drown out her conflicted feelings with irrefutable facts.

The Headmistress had given a long speech to the students about how their lives were important, and they shouldn't let the death of their classmate and friend affect their resolve, and that if they were having second thoughts about their chosen career, come see her in her office as soon as possible to discuss their options. Overall, Indie thought, it would have sounded like obligatory sympathy if Goodwitch hadn't gotten choked up a couple times during her delivery. She'd been shocked at that; she hadn't thought the Headmistress _ever_ expressed her feelings where the students could see her, but apparently even Goodwitch's severe façade could crack under the right circumstances.

Now, out in Vale, she picked at her food. She hadn't really been in the right frame of mind for this, but she hadn't wanted to cancel one of her dates _again_ , not after already having to do so once. After giving it some thought, she'd finally decided that getting off campus and away from the gloominess that had pervaded the student body in the last week, would probably be good for her. At the very least, it would be a change of scenery, and that might be just the thing to shake off her gray mood.

"Hey, is everything all right?"

Indie looked up from her plate, where she'd been poking the food around. Dusty… no, _Marron_ , she corrected herself—he'd asked her to call him by his real name, not the nickname his work buddies used—was giving her a concerned look. "You're being quieter than usual, and I've never seen you play with your food instead of eating it before. If you're… starting to get sick…"

"No, it's not that." Indie wondered what to do, then she sighed. There wasn't any point in trying to keep it from him, and she was sure he'd understand. "It's… well, we got word a few days ago that one of our classmates—from one of the fourth-year teams—died on a mission. Everybody at Beacon is a little depressed right now. I mean, any one of us could be next." Her gaze dipped back down to her still-mostly-full plate. "I guess… maybe I wasn't quite ready for the reminder."

Marron reached over the table and squeezed her hand. "You knew that when you decided to become a Huntress, right? Didn't you tell me your whole family graduated from Beacon?"

"I… pretty much," Indie answered. "I've always known the risks."

"And you don't regret choosing this life?"

 _That_ , at least, was an easy question to answer. Indie shook her head. "Not in the slightest." She was a little surprised to hear the resounding confidence in her voice.

"Then…" Marron looked a bit hesitant, but continued anyway. "I think that means you made the right choice."

Indie considered that. He was right. Maybe he'd decided to go to a trade school and then a technical college, rather than a combat school, but he'd told her that his mother and older brother had both graduated from Haven Academy, which was why he had his aura unlocked and why he knew so much about combat. He knew what he was talking about, although maybe not on the same level as a full Huntsman. Still, dating him didn't come with the usual issues of dating a civvy. She suddenly wondered if that was why Aubergine had chosen Aqua.

But that was none of her business. She went back to her dinner, more enthusiastically than before, actually eating this time and not just moving the food around on the plate. It was surprisingly good, even though it wasn't hot anymore.

When the bill came, Indie snagged it before Marron could, and before she could lose her nerve, stood on her toes and gave him a brief kiss on the lips. She pulled back quickly, not wanting to have to _talk_ about it. "I'll see you next week."

She wondered, as she sat on the airship that would take her back to Beacon, what had come over her to suddenly make her so bold. It wasn't that she'd never been kissed before—the first one with Silva Callahan on a dare in eighth grade didn't really count, but the others since then certainly did. Was it just that this was her first real relationship?

The airship had landed while she'd been thinking and as she wandered into the building through the side entrance, she realized that she really didn't want to be around people right now. Hanging a left at the next fork in the hallway, she found herself in the main hallway.

Her eyes roamed over the roster of graduates, pausing briefly to find RWBY and JNIPR listed under the Class of 83. Seeing those never failed to remind her of why she'd chosen to become a Huntress in the first place, and with the gray mood that had settled over the campus like a mist recently, she could use the reminder. Right next to the graduate roster, though…

Indie had seen this plaque before, but it had never meant much to her and she'd never stopped to read the names on it. This was the list of students who hadn't survived their training, hadn't made it to graduation. Their names, teams, and year of the graduation they had never gotten to attend were all laid out in a column. Skimming over the names, her eyes tripped briefly over _Pyrrha Nikos, Team JNPR, Class of 83_ , before running to the bottom to find the most recently added entry.

 _Royal Ignis Junior, Team ORKD, Class of 105_. The emblem of a lit torch was engraved next to it. Indie wondered how many students had already done exactly what she was doing right now, finding some sort of comfort in knowing that their classmate had been memorialized this way, along with so many others. The words had only been engraved there yesterday.

The sound of light footsteps approaching, followed by a soft "eep!" of surprise, drew her attention to the doorway. It was a first year student, not one that Indie knew by name, but that she vaguely recalled seeing around the school last semester. That was actually surprising… Beacon's student population wasn't _small_ , but it also wasn't large. Indie had thought she knew the names of every student on campus.

"Umm… I can… come back later?" the mousy-looking girl hedged, shrinking back a little.

Indie quickly shook her head, hoping to reassure the girl, who was obviously intimidated by her. Whether it was because Team SAIJ had a reputation around campus, or just because Indie was an upperclassman, she wasn't sure. "No, don't bother. I was… just about to leave." She stepped toward the girl, who ducked her head as Indie passed.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she turned back around. "Are you… looking for anyone specific?"

The girl let out another startled yelp, evidently not realizing that Indie was still there. She made a concerted effort to school her features into a more neutral expression, before replying, "I… yes. My brother. Royal Ignis."

Indie did her best to hide her surprise. This tiny girl was RJ's younger sister? She hadn't been aware that RJ even _had_ a sister, let alone that she was a Huntress student herself. There wasn't much resemblance, Indie decided. RJ had had dark purple hair that he wore cropped short, and gray eyes. This girl wore her black locks pulled back in pigtails, emphasizing her high cheekbones, and her green eyes were fixed intently on Indie. RJ had been fairly tall, but Indie didn't think this girl could be any taller than Lian was, and Lian wasn't even thirteen yet. If this girl was a first year Beacon student, then she was probably seventeen or eighteen.

"It's… right here," Indie told her, pointing to RJ's name on the plaque. The girl stood on her toes to read it. "By the way… what's your name?"

"Twila," the girl replied, after a moment's hesitation. "Um, Twila Ignis."

"Twila…" Indie repeated. "How old are you, Twila?" She supposed it was _possible_ that the girl might have gotten into Beacon a year early. Maybe now wasn't the best time to ask, but Indie couldn't help her curiosity.

"I turned eighteen last week," Twila answered, sounding a little more confident.

"And what made you decide to become a Huntress?"

The younger girl's expression became more serious. "I always looked up to my brother, so when he started combat school, I decided I would too." Her lip quivered, just the tiniest bit. "Even though he's gone now… I'll never give that up." Despite trying to hold back tears, there was a fierceness in her tone that made Indie take an involuntary step back.

"All right… well, I'll leave you to it." Indie did not flee the scene—she had more dignity than that—but she was definitely walking faster than normal, unnerved by the sheer intensity of the younger student. She was sure Twila's eyes had gotten darker, turning nearly black by the time she'd left the girl. Having color-changing eyes wasn't so weird, but in this case, they had only added to the impression she'd gotten of Twila, that in spite of her timid nature, she was _not_ someone to be messed with.

xxxxx

For Aurum, hearing about one of her classmates dying was like being doused with cold water. She'd known that choosing to become a Huntress would very likely end in a violent death. She knew the statistics, that one out of every five Huntsmen died before retiring, and that one out of every twenty Huntsman students didn't even survive until their graduation. But… just knowing the numbers hadn't ever driven home for her how it would feel to lose someone that way.

Of course, the fact that nearly her entire extended family hunted Grimm for a living, or at the very least used to do so, sort of defied those odds. Aurum had never lost a family member to Grimm, even taking into account people like Winter who were only family by association.

 _Just because I've never lost anyone close to me… maybe I convinced myself it wasn't so bad._

She knew perfectly well that there were _reasons_ her family members had survived as long as they had. Ruby could petrify Grimm with her eyes, no need to get close to them. Weiss had a desk job and hadn't been out in the field in several years. Yang had stopped taking any mission ranked as more than moderately dangerous immediately after Jade was born, out of a staunch refusal to let her daughter grow up without a mother. Aurum's own parents had alternated taking missions, never going out at the same time, so that if one of them fell, their children would still have one parent left.

Even going beyond RWBY to JNIPR didn't really break the trend. Jaune had an absolutely absurd amount of aura that was almost never depleted in regular combat. Ren and Nora were so in sync with each other that tag-teaming Grimm that another pair might hesitate to confront was nothing to them. Ilia only rarely took missions outside Patch, where Grimm populations were small and manageable. Only Pyrrha Nikos had fallen in battle, and that had been against another person, who had had magical powers no less, not Grimm.

Aurum let her mind wander. It had been two weeks since the student body had fallen into mourning, and while she was sure that RJ would be on everyone's minds for a while, other matters were slowly starting to take priority again. Her hand absently drifted away from her lap… prompting the heavy textbook wedged there to fall over onto her thighs. "Yow!" It didn't actually _hurt_ , but it did startle her out of her reverie.

 _Okay, maybe in the middle of homework wasn't the best time for this._

A glance down at the book showed her that yes, her History assignment was still unfinished. With an exaggerated sigh, she picked the book back up and tried to refocus on it. She did like history, when she could actually understand what was being said—she wasn't sorry to have left Oobleck's classes behind her this year. He talked _way_ too fast and she always felt like she was missing the good parts.

She focused on the heading marked "The Faunus Rights Revolution." This had occurred years before her parents were born, and had officially been the end of the treatment of Faunus as lesser citizens. Of course, in reality, discrimination had persisted while law enforcement often turned a blind eye. Aurum scowled. It had only been twenty years since the SDC's alliance with the White Fang had finally ended with the full eradication of Faunus mistreatment. Maybe she couldn't remember it, but it had been during her lifetime.

She'd been only two months old when Blake and Weiss had unveiled the agreement that made the partnership official, between the SDC and the White Fang. As Aurum took in the photo that accompanied the paragraph, she noted how completely cool and in control Weiss looked, despite the difficulties of being five months pregnant _and_ in the middle of a messy divorce. But then, she had never looked less than perfect. Aurum went back to the reading.

 _Under High Leader Ghira Belladonna, who originally founded the organization, the White Fang became known as a group of Faunus who spoke on behalf of their people. However, after he stepped down and Sienna Khan took over the mantle of High Leader, the group became much more vocal._

Aurum couldn't help letting a snort escape. Vocal? That was certainly one way to put it. Interested to see what the book said next, she scrutinized the following paragraph.

… _a violent splinter cell that fell apart after the assassination of Sienna Khan and the subsequent death of Adam Taurus. Ghira Belladonna briefly took up the title of High Leader once again in the wake of this cell's attack on Haven Academy in 81 AU, but only two years later retired for good, passing the title on to his daughter. High Leader Blake Belladonna was newly graduated from the rebuilt Beacon Academy at the time, and together with her teammates, including future Schnee Dust Company head Weiss Schnee, worked ceaselessly to create a model of unity between Faunus and humans._

The picture that accompanied this paragraph was one Aurum recognized. The full image showed all of Team RWBY standing in name order, but this version had cropped out Ruby and Yang so all that was shown was Weiss, standing next to Blake. Both women were showing smiles to the camera, and Weiss had her hand on Blake's shoulder.

 _The fruits of their unending labor were unveiled on May 20, 85 Age of Unity._

The image next to the first one showed Weiss and Blake shaking hands in front of a large, official-looking document. Aurum squinted at it. If she was correct, that had been in Atlas. A series of smaller photos were arrayed in a row at the bottom of the page. One showed Weiss disembarking an oceangoing vessel in Menagerie and being greeted by the Belladonna family. Another showed a few workers in hard hats, going over a Dust mine inch by inch, checking things off a very long list on one's scroll, and a third was a simplified version of the SDC's snowflake logo, overlaid with the sleepy wolf's head that the White Fang still used to identify themselves, that was used to signify the partnership between the two entities.

 _This_ was the kind of history Aurum wanted to see.

 **Loss and heartbreak… yeah, I might like my happy endings, but this is still the RWBY universe, where things aren't all sunshine and roses. I'm still extremely annoyed that I couldn't find a place to introduce Team ORKD earlier, so y'all could meet RJ before I decided he had to die.**

 **Funny thing about the name Marron: I was thinking it would make a good RWBY name, because it sounds like "maroon." Then I found out that the word actually refers to a chestnut brown color in French. Guess sometimes things just work out that way.**

 **Stay tuned, and please leave a review!**


	42. Some School and Some Fun

**The previous chapter gave me so much trouble that this one was actually finished first, as strange as that may sound. Go figure.**

 **Hope everyone's staying safe from the coronavirus (COVID-19) right now. My college has already made the call to shift everything online for the next few weeks (which admittedly doesn't affect me too much, since I'm not a campus-based student this semester anyway), my workplace is closing to patrons until the beginning of April (there's work for the staff to do even without guests, so I'll at least still be drawing a paycheck), and my social life has come to a screeching halt. My parents are teachers, and both of THEIR schools are closed for several weeks as well.**

 **On the plus side, more writing time! But in all seriousness, please remember to wash your hands, sanitize all surfaces, and practice social distancing if possible. This has been a PSA.**

 **I do not own anything you recognize from RWBY.**

 **Some School and Some Fun**

This actually hadn't been a bad idea, Aurum decided.

 _This_ was sitting in on a first-year Grimm Studies lecture. Indie had suggested that they try attending one of Blake's classes, since none of them had ever had her as a teacher before. Aurum had been hesitant at first—she'd been worried it would be weird having her mom as a teacher, and so far it hadn't been too bad. Now it felt like Indie was trying her best to tempt fate and _make_ it weird—but after only five minutes in the classroom, had been completely hooked. Blake had cued up a video of Team RWBY's initiation exam, where the four girls had combined their strengths in order to defeat a giant Nevermore before even being named an official team.

"… Nevermores have a tendency to attack people out in the open, since they are often too large to fly between trees in a forest or tall buildings in a city," Blake continued, pointing to various parts of the diagram she'd pulled up on the screen. "Of course, younger individuals can often perform more evasive maneuvers since they are much smaller."

The lecture went on in the same vein, focusing solely on Nevermores as today's topic. Blake covered various subspecies, different methods of attack, and preferred habitat, along with anatomy. Aurum was actually impressed that her mom was able to cram so much into a single block, while still accepting questions from students. It was a surprisingly interactive class, that kept the students engaged with exciting snippets but also covered the important information in a way that was memorable. _Who knew Mom would make such a good teacher?_ She thought back to her first couple years at Beacon, and couldn't imagine Professor Trace doing something like this.

"While some individuals _can_ perform precise movements, usually ones that are smaller than average for their age, most prefer to rely on their aerial advantage, along with the ability to shoot their feathers like quills. Miss Florentine, you can kiss your boyfriend on your own time but not in my class."

A muted wave of snickering swept through the room as a girl several seats over from SAIJ detached herself from the young man next to her, both of them red-faced. Aurum was impressed; she hadn't noticed the two until her mom had called them on it, and Blake was looking at the board and had her back to them.

At the front of the room, Blake clicked on another link at the bottom of her screen. A short video played, showing a Huntsman narrowly avoiding the quills that a Nevermore was shooting at him, before ducking behind a tree for cover. A closeup shot of the feathers lodging in the tree trunk, accompanied by several audible _thunks_ , had a couple of students flinching in shock.

Blake had timed her presentation perfectly: the bell rang before anyone could verbally react to what they'd seen. The first-years chattered animatedly among themselves as they gathered their things to head out.

"Your homework today is to read the chapter on Nevermores in your textbook, and answer questions one, two, three, and five at the end of the reading!" Blake called out over the hubbub. "And if you haven't done so already, make sure you read the article I sent you the link to on Tuesday!"

 _Wonder what that article's about?_ Maybe she could ask her mom to send her a copy too. Aurum was still fascinated as she stood up to leave, but Jade pulled her back into her seat and shook her head at her. It took Aurum a second to realize why: the first-years had another class to get to, but SAIJ, being upper-years, did not. Better to let the younger students leave first so they could get to their next class on time.

Aurum ditched her teammates as soon as they left the classroom. She had something to look up in the library, for an assignment that she wasn't _quite_ finished with yet. She didn't dare say anything about it, though; she knew that all of her teammates had finished it already, and Skye and Indie would undoubtedly scold her if they knew she wasn't done with it.

The book she needed was a reference book, not technically allowed to leave the building, but people could take it wherever they wanted inside the library. Aurum had hidden it behind some other books this morning. She'd been looking for it all week, but hadn't had any luck; _Introduction to Dust: Mechanics and the Math Behind It_ was a fairly basic tome on Dust that many students referenced for their projects. Earlier today, she'd found it on the shelf for the first time, but she hadn't had the time to search for the diagram she needed then and there. Finding the right shelf, she reached her hand behind the row of books and triumphantly retrieved the volume she'd stashed there this morning.

Already flipping pages, she plopped herself down in one of the cushy chairs that were scattered here and there throughout the building. The illustration she needed turned out to be near the beginning.

Flipping open her scroll and taking a picture of the diagram, she carefully saved it to a folder she'd designated for school projects. _There, that's all I needed to do. Now I can finish up that research paper. With time to spare, too!_ Despite Skye and Indie's concerns, the project wasn't due until next Monday. Aurum only had to insert this diagram into her paper, add a reference to it at the end, and she'd be done.

She began idly flicking through the pages, looking at the other tables and diagrams. Dust use wasn't an exact science, but there had been enough study of it from a scientific standpoint that reasonable assumptions could be drawn. It was all gibberish to her, but Skye, Indie, and Aqua would no doubt understand exactly what was being said here.

Aurum only vaguely registered when Rhoda and Esme entered the library. She might not have noticed them at all but for the riot of hot pink that Rhoda wore; it clashed spectacularly with the muted browns, grays, and dark greens that made up most of the library's color scheme. Esme, dressed in camo as she was, would have been nearly invisible had she been holding still.

The two girls of CROM were still there ten minutes later, when Aurum stood up to leave. She suspected they were working on the same assignment she was, and could use the book she'd been perusing, so she stopped at their table instead of putting the book back on the shelf. Both of them looked up at her approach. Aurum grinned and held the tome up, displaying the title. "Either of you need this?"

Esme stood and made a grab for it. "Yes, I've been looking for that for the last week!"

"Same. It's been pretty hard to find." Aurum handed it over. "I think a lot of first-years are using it for one of their assignments. If you're looking for the quality standards, the table's on page forty-one."

"Nah, I'm looking for the page that describes combining three or more Dust types," Esme answered, flipping over a page. "Combining two types of Dust is pretty basic, but any more than that and things get sketchy."

Aurum nodded in agreement. She'd certainly always thought so, but her brother could probably recite from memory the table Esme was poring over, a quality that girls found irresistible for some reason. Not fair. Rhoda only shrugged. "Meh, I've never had too much trouble with it." She seemed about to say something else, but suddenly jerked her head to the side and frowned. "Who's _that_?"

Aurum and Esme both craned their necks, looking in the direction indicated. Aurum couldn't see anybody, other than the second-year team poring over Grimm anatomy at the next table and Tanso parked at one chair tucked away in a corner, his face buried in a fat textbook that he'd probably describe as average if Aurum's experience with Indie was anything to go by. She turned back to Rhoda with a _What?_ expression, shrugging in confusion. "Who's who?"

"That." Rhoda pointed at a bookshelf. As far as Aurum could tell, nobody was standing anywhere near it. "I didn't really notice at first, but now that I think about it, a dormant aura isn't something you see around Beacon very often. Or any combat school, for that matter."

"Dormant… aura?" Aurum repeated.

Rhoda had evidently decided to investigate, because in the half second it had taken Aurum to ask her question, the pink-clad swordswoman had made a beeline for the shelf she'd just indicated. Aurum turned to Esme with a questioning expression. "Is there actually someone there?"

"Probably." The iguana Faunus lifted one shoulder in a casual way. "It's her semblance. Ro can sense aura, even through solid objects, and she can tell whether the person's aura is activated or not. It's how we found Mallow Ferris when he was being held hostage a few months ago, and how we avoided the perps while we busted him out."

"Huh… that's handy." Aurum hadn't known that. Not everyone had a semblance that was useful in combat, but something like aura sensing would undoubtedly prove useful to a Huntress in the field. Definitely on Search and Rescue missions like the one Esme was describing, with relish in her voice; Aurum wasn't likely to forget the way CROM had garnered all the attention for weeks afterward, not anytime soon at least. "Hey… what's _your_ semblance, Esme?"

The camo-clad girl suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I… don't actually know my semblance yet." The face she was making made it clear how much she disliked having to answer that question.

Aurum pricked her ears up and cocked her head to the side. "You don't know your semblance yet… that's maybe not the norm for a third year, but I wouldn't say it's so weird."

Esme glanced back up, skepticism and the faintest trace of hope evident in her violet eyes. "It's… not? I'm almost twenty, and I've had my aura activated since I was twelve. If my semblance hasn't unlocked in almost eight years…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"Nope." Aurum shook her head emphatically. "All that means is you haven't encountered just the right circumstances to unlock your semblance yet. It'll manifest when you do, and no sooner." She paused a moment to build up the suspense. " _Or_ …" She let the word dangle tantalizingly.

"Or what?" Esme asked, rolling her eyes; she was clearly unimpressed with Aurum's theatrics.

"Oooor… maybe you _have_ unlocked your semblance already, but it's really subtle and you just haven't figured out what it is yet."

Esme's eyes lit up as she considered the possibility, but she didn't get the chance to answer before Rhoda came back into view, dragging a teenage girl behind her. Aurum didn't register much beyond the girl's dark hair and her pink t-shirt reading _I run on caffeine and cuss words_ before Esme jumped out of her chair incredulously. "Onyx?! What the hell are you doing here at Beacon?"

"Aw, sissy…" the girl whined. "I just wanted to see you. Mom and Dad are so busy with _work_ that they never have time to visit Beacon!"

 _Onyx…_ From somewhere in the depths of her mind, Aurum made the connection and realized who the girl had to be. This was Esme's little sister, Onyx Montanya, who attended River Gorge Preparatory Institute in Vale. Her team had briefly been introduced to the family during the Vytal Festival, but Aurum had met so many people in those few weeks that they all kind of blended together in her head. Based on the teen's casual dress, she was willing to bet the institute wasn't in session today. _Well… I guess she could have decided to ditch. Wouldn't want to get caught in her uniform, anyway_.

"Onyx…" Esme started. "You shouldn't have come here by yourself."

Onyx visibly drooped at her sister's reprimand. Aurum noticed that her cat tail, which had a purple ribbon tied around it that matched her eyes, was also drooping. "But… I had the day off today. It's not like I ditched school!" _Well, that answers one question_. "I'm fifteen, Es, you can't keep babying me forever!"

xxxxx

Jade was just finishing up with her Theory of Aura assignment when the alarm on her scroll went off. Stretching, she silenced it, then hopped up off her bed. _That was a marathon study session, all right_ …

The alarm meant that it was a few minutes before five o'clock. She'd set it as a reminder to go across the hall to AZSR's dorm room to retrieve Skye, who had been planning on studying with her boyfriend today. _Studying… is_ _ **that**_ _what they call it?_ Jade's mouth twisted up into a wry smirk. She'd made a promise to go and get Skye at five so SAIJ could have dinner as a team, something they tried to do at least once every week. Sighing, she left the room and crossed the hall to AZSR's door. She was about to knock, before realizing it wasn't completely latched. _That's weird…_ She pushed the door open, and regretted it immediately.

The leader of Team AZSR had her arms twined around a dark-haired Faunus, both of them _very_ intently focused on their little makeout session. Both parties were fully dressed, thank all the gods that may or may not have existed for _that_ —Jade wasn't sure she would have been able to keep her cool otherwise—but they'd obviously been at this for several minutes. Jade immediately averted her gaze, but nothing was going to erase the image of her cousin making out with her classmate from her brain anytime soon.

After a moment of staring pointedly at the ceiling, Jade managed to regather her wits and cleared her throat loudly.

Aubergine detached herself from Aqua and looked over in Jade's direction. The green-haired girl raised her eyebrows suggestively, trying to cover up how incredibly uncomfortable the scene had made her. "I'd tell you two to get a room, but it looks like you've got that covered."

Aqua went scarlet. Aubergine only shrugged, not the slightest bit bothered by the suggestion. "What do you want, Xiao Long? And if the answer is _interrupting my very limited boyfriend time_ … well, it better not be."

Jade shrugged. "Looking for my partner, actually." She grinned and very deliberately ignored the dirty look Aqua was giving her. If she'd had the questionable luck of walking in on these two while they were _otherwise occupied_ , at the very least she was going to mess with them a little. He knew her well enough to know that that was _exactly_ what she was thinking. She was feeling less and less awkward by the second.

Aubergine ignored her boyfriend's embarrassment and made a vague gesture toward the center of campus. "Try the library. They were planning to _actually_ study today." The dismissal in her tone made it clear that she wanted Jade _gone_ , as soon as humanly possible.

Jade wasn't offended at Aubergine's attitude; spending time with someone you didn't get to see very often was something she could appreciate. "Thanks, I'll go look for them there." She made as if to close the door, then paused for a second, something else occurring to her. "Hey, Aubergine, in case you didn't know…"

The pirate girl glanced back at the door, her expression clearly asking why the awkward third wheel was still there. Jade kept a straight face while she continued, "He likes having his ears petted."

Aqua, still red-faced, groped for an object on the table next to him. It turned out to be a flimsy plastic comb, which he flung in Jade's general direction without bothering to aim. It clattered against the wall a few feet to her right. Aubergine only regarded Jade with her own rather impressive poker face, ignoring the choking sound her boyfriend was making, as she replied in a deadpan tone, "I'll keep that in mind." A moment later she turned her head and looked at him. "How on Remnant did you _miss_ her?! She's less than ten feet away from you."

"I never claimed to be _good_ at throwing things at people," Aqua replied stiffly. "There's a reason I decided to enroll at Vale Tech instead of Beacon."

"And with that, I'll leave you to it," Jade actually took hold of the door handle this time, but decided to get in one last barb before leaving. "Just remember to hang a tie."

She caught sight of Aqua's face going red again as she shut the door behind her, just in time to hear a muffled yell of " _Goddammit, Jade!_ " through the closed door. Giving a loud chuckle—messing with Aqua had always been _way_ too easy—she turned around to reenter her own dorm—then stopped short as she was met by another couple. Skye only rolled her blue eyes as she regarded her partner. "What did you do now." It was very clearly not a question, so Jade didn't answer.

Zelty eyed the closed door warily. "Whatever you did—and I really don't want to know—is my team leader in a bad mood right now? Meaning she'll try and kill me as soon as I walk in there?" He waved broadly toward the door Jade had just exited.

"Nah." Jade gave them an evil grin. "She's in a _very_ good mood."

"Honestly, Jade…" Skye didn't continue.

"I told them to hang a tie." Jade eyed the couple in front of her. "Which, now that I think about it, I should probably also—"

She didn't the chance to finish. Skye lunged forward and slapped her hand over her partner's mouth, and in a low, dangerous voice hissed, "If you want to live to see tomorrow, I highly suggest you _not_ finish that sentence."

Jade grumbled something that was meant to be insulting, but with Skye's hand still firmly over her mouth, came out too garbled to understand. Skye, evidently taking that as assent, removed her hand.

Zelty went into AZSR's room while Jade and Skye entered SAIJ's. They were met by Aurum, who eyed Jade knowingly. "I think you broke my brother."

"You were listening?" Jade grinned.

Aurum proudly flicked her cat ears atop her head. "Of course."

Skye looked from her partner to the Faunus on her bunk, and then back to Jade. "You two are _terrible_ influences on each other."

xxxxx

"Wheeee! This is fun!"

Indie smiled as the ten-year-old Lizi swung herself up into the branches. The little girl was absolutely beaming at finally getting to meet her big sister, and had immediately rushed into trying to copy Indie's favorite pastime.

Thirteen-year-old Mo watched from the ground, not joining in. He was, Indie had already noticed, much more reserved than his younger sister. "Be careful up there! I don't want you to fall and get hurt!" he yelled suddenly.

Lizi poked her head through a leafy branch and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "I'm fine! Don't be such a nag!"

Indie giggled, loudly enough that Lizi heard her from a couple branches down and looked up at her, beginning to giggle herself.

Ruby and Ilia had both happened to have nothing going on today, and the primary school on Patch was closed for a teachers' conference, so the couple had surprised their oldest daughter by bringing their family to Beacon in order for the two new additions to meet their older sister.

The two siblings looked very similar, with the same bright silver eyes, freckles, and dark purple curls, although Mo's hair was cropped short and Lizi kept hers pulled out of her face with barrettes. It was obvious from a glance that they were related. Mo had kept a watchful eye on his little sister from the moment Indie had first laid eyes on the two, something she suspected had been going on far longer than they'd been part of this family. Indie knew that these two had lived their entire lives with their father, who had died last year. With no other family to take them in, they'd wound up at the Meridian Children's Home, where Ruby and Ilia had found them.

"Another five minutes, all right?" Ruby yelled up into the tree. "Then we'll go inside for lunch, and you can meet the others!"

"Yaaay!" Lizi squealed, dangling from a branch before righting herself.

Indie giggle-snorted, half at Lizi's antics and half at the reminder of how exasperated she was with her team. Aurum, Skye, and Jade had been ridiculously curious about their new cousins, and had badgered her incessantly this morning to the point where she'd ordered them to leave her alone until lunchtime, and then silenced her scroll.

Now, she quickly and gracefully dropped down onto the ground, using only a few of the maple's branches to manage her descent. Lizi, sensing that the fun was over, followed suit at a somewhat more hesitant pace. Indie suspected her sister's slowness was only to soothe Mo's nerves at seeing the little girl so high in the air, and that she would have been much more enthusiastic if he hadn't been watching.

"All right, let's head for the cafeteria," Ilia suggested, standing up from her spot on the ground and walking toward them. Getting Mo and the still-chattering Lizi inside the cafeteria was easy enough, with the promise of food being offered; both were growing children with big appetites.

Not being raised among Huntsmen, the two clearly hadn't realized how many calories were required to keep a pro at his or her best. Lizi's jaw dropped when she saw how much food Indie was piling on her plate. Indie giggled to herself at her sister's reaction. _Wait until she sees the others…_

Indie wasn't disappointed; as she found a table with enough seats for both her visiting family and her teammates, Aurum and Jade both plopped themselves down. Between them, their own trays were loaded with at least three times as much as Indie had taken.

Aurum, between bites of her pizza, was asking Mo rapid fire questions. "You just turned thirteen, right?"

Mo nodded in reply, not saying anything.

"Are you gonna enroll at Signal for next year?"

Another nod. Aurum grinned. "That's great! Do you know what kind of weapon you want to specialize in yet?"

Mo only shrugged in response. Aurum made a face. "Do you talk at all?"

"When I feel like it," Mo mumbled, his cheeks turning just the slightest bit pink. He might be outspoken when it came to protecting his little sister, Indie realized, but he was clearly intimidated by Aurum. Or maybe he was just naturally shy.

"Aurum, leave him alone," Ruby ordered. "If he doesn't feel like talking then he doesn't have to."

Lizi, seated across the table from Aurum, leaned forward, her eyes shining. "I never thought about being a Huntress before, but it sounds so cool!"

Skye, from her place next to Lizi, eyed the little girl sternly. "Being a Huntress is not _cool_. It is an important job, that comes with more risk than almost any other." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Has Ruby been teaching you what you can do with your eyes?"

Mo answered the question, speaking for the first time since sitting down. "She's trying. Neither of us has… lit up like that before; we never even knew we _could_ do that."

Indie looked at him. "You want to be a Huntsman?" He nodded. "Did you have any combat training from your father?"

Mo shook his head, his cheeks turning pink again. Indie shrugged. "That's okay, you know. There's plenty of Huntsmen out there who don't start training until they're your age; you won't be alone in learning." Something else suddenly occurred to her. "Do you have your aura unlocked? Do _you_?" she added, glancing at Lizi.

"Not yet," Ilia answered for both of them. "We wanted them to have a bit more training if they want it, and it's not like we're going to force it on them." She paused to take a sip from her water glass, then looked Mo directly in the eye. "But we absolutely will by the time you're ready to start at Signal."

xxxxx

Skye closed up the chamber of her saber with a relieved sigh. She'd _finally_ finished Gladiola's upgrade. Locking it into place, she carefully rotated the chamber a single click. Pulling the trigger, she was pleased to see that it handled exactly the same as it always had.

She went through the entire thing, scrutinizing each turn it made one by one, testing out the individual Dust chambers to make sure nothing was too loose or catching improperly. Of course, she'd have to go through them again in a few minutes, after she actually loaded each one with a different type of Dust.

Previously, she'd had six different types of Dust that she typically used—water, gravity, wind, fire, earth, and ice. Those had comprised her standard arsenal for years now, and they'd done a perfectly fine job. But now that she was trying to use time dilation more often, she'd decided six wasn't going to cut it anymore. It had been supremely annoying to have to switch out one of her other cartridges for a lightning one, every time she wanted to practice. Adjusting her cartridge size in order to add two new ones to her supply—one for lightning Dust, and the second for another fire since she used it so often—seemed like the perfect solution. They were ever so slightly smaller now, but based on the schematics Indie had painstakingly gone over with her, the trade-off would be well worth it.

Her team was leaving for a new mission in just a little while—they'd been assigned a certain number of missions to complete this year, and they still had one left. She needed to test out her new upgrade before they went back into the field.

As that thought entered her mind, her eyes found her sparring partner. She smiled. Zelty was doing much better than he had been, losing a classmate so soon after hearing about his father's death, even though he was still a little moody. He'd always had a very serious personality. Now, though… it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Oh, there you are!" he greeted her. "I was just wondering if I needed to come find you."

Skye shook her head, her smile growing. "No, it just took me a little longer to finish than I thought, but I'm done now. Ready to help me try it out?"

"Always." He seated himself on the barricade of the arena, waiting patiently for her to load her cartridges from the multiple Dust vials she carried on her. They matched the rest of her team's own personalized vials: her family's snowflake emblem and the letters _SS_ on the side, a gift from her mom.

"Okay, ready!"

An hour later, Skye could say with confidence that her upgraded Dust chamber was a resounding success. She entered her room with a pleased grin on her face. Based on Jade's expression, she knew full well that Skye had been legitimately training, but wanted to make a suggestive comment about her partner's grin being about something else. Luckily, she was cut off by Aurum before she could actually say anything.

"Hey, we're all ready to go when you are!"

Indie, seated at a desk, tossed Skye's backpack at her; Skye caught it, startled. Indie pulled herself out of her seat and nodded toward the bag. "I packed your bag while we were waiting, so you're all ready to go with your essentials."

"Oh… well, all right then." Skye hadn't meant to keep her team waiting, and the four soon found themselves in front of the mission boards. All of them were looking a little apprehensive to some degree, a sentiment Skye was sure was evident on her own face as well. It still hadn't been all that long since Team ORKD had lost one of their own, and none of SAIJ had forgotten that.

"Hey, this one looks promising," Aurum said, pointing to a listing that was flashing red. "It says this village has been attacked by a lot of Grimm recently, and they need supplies delivered? I wonder if it had something to do with that earthquake a few weeks ago. Maybe their defenses got damaged, or something."

"I bet it _is_ 'cause of that earthquake," Jade mused. "Why else would it only have suffered attacks in the last couple weeks? And if they took damage in the quake, no wonder they need supplies."

Indie, for some reason Skye couldn't fathom, had gotten an odd look on her face. Skye wasn't sure what to make of it—if anything, she'd expected Jade to object to another cushy-ish mission like this one, but Jade clearly prioritized the urgency of the mission over getting her teammates used to roughing it. Indie's expression returned to normal only a moment later, leaving Skye to question whether it had ever been there in the first place.

"Sounds good to me."

 **Last chapter was pretty depressing for me to write. I'm not used to that kind of tone, and I'm guessing that's probably why it was so difficult for me. This one, though… I breezed right through it.**

 **The new characters, Lizi and Mo Harmon, both have Chinese first names, meaning "plum," and "ink" respectively. I'll admit, part of the reason it took me so long to introduce them was because I couldn't find names I liked! They'll be making more appearances in the future.**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**


	43. Adventure to the North

**Well, my job has shut down. Which majorly sucks, I've been loving it. I AM planning on using my newfound free time productively, and increasing my writing time. If I double my daily word count, I figure I can finish drafting the entire story in the next month or so. We'll see if I can do that, since I have other projects to work on, but I'm hopeful. That said, I realized the other day that I'd made a HUGE mistake in what I currently have written for chapters 46-50 and I'm thinking I should probably edit those before I continue, so I can try to avoid making the same mistake in the future.**

 **I do not own anything except my original characters created for this story.**

 **Adventure to the North**

There were usually at least half a dozen bullheads around the Beacon campus, reserved for official Huntsman business. The pilots were on call at all times to transport people to all corners of Vale if necessary. Since the team was transporting goods that were too much for them to carry on their backs, and the village—rather uncreatively called Northingham, as it was the northernmost settlement in Vale territory—needed the supplies as soon as possible, nobody objected when Skye pulled aside one of the pilots and told him what they were up to. He fired up the craft and they were airborne less than twenty minutes later.

Aurum was simultaneously relieved to be on the way so quickly and frustrated at the thought of being crammed into the small space of a bullhead for a couple hours. She finally decided to just quit thinking about it and pulled a comic book out of her pack to occupy herself on the ride.

She was absorbed in the adventure—it was a slightly comedic story, of a masked hero who patrolled the city streets at night and stopped criminals, leaving them tied up on police station steps for the cops to find in the morning—when their pilot called back to them, "We should be setting down in Northingham in another five minutes or so!"

"Thanks for letting us know!" Skye called back. She quickly readied her sword, slipping her extra Dust vials into her pocket. Indie adjusted her hood so that Crescent Ranger was in easy reach, and Aurum hurriedly placed the comic back into her backpack, then stood, ready to disembark.

She'd been expecting the familiar dropping sensation in her stomach that usually accompanied the landing of an aircraft, so she was startled when the ship banked and did a one-eighty instead. Several different possibilities for what could be happening ran through her head in a split second, until the pilot's voice came floating back from the cockpit again. "The square is overrun with Grimm! I won't be able to land!"

Indie immediately shouted back. "I can get us down!" Almost as an afterthought, she turned to her teammates. "Um, if you're okay with it?"

Skye gave her an incredulous look. "If you can get us to the ground without breaking our auras, I don't care. Of course we're okay with it!"

"Got it." A fierce, determined expression came into Indie's turquoise eyes. She nodded once, decisively, before calling out to the pilot once again. "Can you try and hover in place for a few minutes?"

"No problem, kid!" came the reply. Aurum immediately felt the bullhead slow, and a few seconds later, it had halted its forward momentum as the gravity Dust in the aircraft was activated. _Dust really is a wonderful thing_ …

Before Aurum could really process it—although she had a pretty good idea what Indie's plan was—Indie had retrieved an arrow from her quiver, attached it to her cord, and nocked it, all in one smooth motion. She aimed it toward the closest tree and loosed. Aurum barely heard the _thunk_ as it lodged in the wood, and she doubted her teammates had heard it at all—the craft's motor wasn't deafening, but it was still pretty loud.

Indie tied a knot in the cord and quickly threaded the end through one of the handles on the compartment's interior. The rope flashed through her fingers, and she'd finished the complicated-looking knot that held it in place before Aurum had a chance to blink. She watched in awe as Indie gave it a couple firm tugs to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. Aurum had no idea what the knot was, but she knew that both the cord and the bullhead handle were more than strong enough to support the weight of a single Huntress at one time, and she had complete faith in Indie's knot-tying skills. The plan was becoming clearer by the second.

Her setup completed, Indie turned to Jade. "You first."

Jade looked like she'd just eaten something unpleasant tasting, but when Skye nudged her toward the open side of the bullhead, she set her jaw and stepped forward resolutely. Making the tall girl go first was probably smart. Jade might have overcome her fear of heights in the last couple years, but she'd made it plain to her teammates that she would never like them, and Aurum didn't trust Jade to actually jump from the bullhead without the proper motivation. A sentiment that Indie apparently shared.

The green-haired Huntress glared at the setup for a long moment, then finally sighed in resignation. She deliberately took her weapons and turned them in her hands so she was holding them by the barrels. Hooking the handles over the line, she hesitated one last moment. Aurum was seriously ready to push her, but Jade did actually jump of her own accord.

"Okay, who's next?" Indie asked her remaining teammates.

Aurum didn't wait for Skye to respond. Jamming the two halves of Aurora Blaze together, she stuck the weapon over the top of the rope, and activated the gravity Dust inside her bracelets so she'd be securely anchored to it. Leaping out of the bullhead, she let out a loud, "Whooo-hoooo!" as she slid down the cord, the contrast between her descent and her teammate's almost comical in her mind.

Jade had already waded into the Grimm by the time Aurum landed on the ground. The Faunus only spared a second to take in the situation—maybe two dozen Boarbatusks, along with the odd Ursa, and they were roaming through the streets as though they owned the place, ramming into buildings and just generally causing chaos. Two of the Ursai were clawing at a large structure that Aurum was guessing was a reinforced Grimm shelter. It looked pretty solid, the only damage so far a few scratch marks, so if anyone was taking refuge inside, they wouldn't need her attention just yet.

"Hey, pork-for-brains!" A few of the Boarbatusks surrounding Jade turned their heads at Aurum's taunt. Evidently giving up on the taller fighter, they aimed themselves at their new target and charged. One rolled up into a ball and launched itself at her. Aurum smiled to herself, before she activated her semblance and flashed out of the way. The monster flew past her and smacked into a steel retaining wall, easy prey for Aurora Blaze. It was soon nothing more than a smoking corpse.

A shimmering snowflake-shaped platform suddenly came into being in front of her. "Aurum, quit playing around with the Grimm; they're not toys," Skye ordered as she dropped gracefully from the glyph and, lightning-fast, drove her saber through the unarmored belly of another pig nearby.

"Ugh, you're no fun." Aurum was only half paying attention to Skye; she spun using her semblance, and the whirling tessen caught two of the beasts at once. She smirked in satisfaction. "See? Just because I make jokes and have a good time, doesn't mean I'm not taking my job seriously."

Skye gestured with her sword and a handful of the Grimm were immediately lifted into the air by black glyphs, where they dangled, squealing in a not-very-threatening manner, before Aurum zipped beneath them, giving each one a series of slashes. The beasts crumbled to ash in her wake.

"You're being unprofessional," Skye insisted, letting the gravity glyphs dissolve and turning to focus on one of the Ursai that had just started growling at her. It was soon dispatched and Skye called more gravity glyphs into being, causing a new batch of Grimm to become weightless, thrashing around in their midair prisons, until a few arrows soared down from the roof of a nearby building and picked off the dangling monsters one by one.

"You're kidding, right?" Jade panted, swinging at what looked like the only Beowolf to join the party. Aurum wondered if it was a loner, or a scout that had gotten separated from its pack. "You _have_ seen Nora kill Grimm at least once in your life, yeah? You wanna talk about treating our jobs like a _game_ … Aurum's got nothing on her."

"Uh… thanks?" Aurum muttered. She ducked underneath the Ursa that Skye was facing off against; the number of armored spikes on its back indicated it was an Ursa Major, and while she was sure Skye could take care of it by herself, there were no other Grimm in sight anymore and it would go faster with the two of them.

She folded up her fans and jabbed them at its belly; it roared in pain, and a split second later it was roaring again as it lit up like a bonfire. Aurum yelped in surprise and nearly fell back onto her butt. At the last second, she was able to recover her balance, and calling up her semblance once more, shot between the thing's hind legs to escape, already planning how she was going to chew out her team leader for _setting the Grimm on fire_ while a teammate was still engaged with it. Once free of the smoldering bear, she looked around for new targets.

There were none. Not a single Grimm remained, not within Aurum's range of vision anyway, and if the thumbs-up Indie was shooting them all from the rooftop was any indication, none left in the line of sight of the high ground, either. Aurum let out a long, sighing breath, and lowered her weapons.

xxxxx

"Thank you, Huntresses, thank you so much!"

Jade was more than a little embarrassed at the way the mayor was reacting. Seriously, all they'd done was kill a bunch of Grimm; they'd literally just been doing their jobs. But the middle-aged man with the name of Hawthorne Crest, would _not_ stop gushing as he pumped Skye's hand. The rest of the village council, gathered around the team, looked rather impatient for him to finish. The mayor went for Indie next, giving her the same overenthusiastic treatment, and from the next-level uncomfortable expression on her face, she would have gladly been _anywhere but here_ right now. Jade knew the feeling—neither she nor Indie was what anyone would call socially gifted.

Finally nudging the poor man aside—and none too gently either; he deserved it with the scene he was making—Jade tried to change the subject. "This mission didn't have a determined length listed. I'm assuming we'll be here for a few days to patrol the town and deal with any threats, so is there someplace we can sleep while we're here?"

"Ah…" One of the other officials shuffled forward nervously. She was elderly, and seemed as embarrassed as Jade was at the way Mayor Crest was behaving. "I don't believe we have a space large enough for all four of you together…" She hesitated for a moment, then her lined face seemed to light up. "…Unless you wouldn't mind staying in my barn? I can promise you, the hayloft is very clean and spacious."

"We'll take it," Jade answered, before any of her teammates could have a chance to object. "I've slept in worse places than a barn."

Skye, who was clearly not thrilled with the idea but doing her best to keep her expression gracious, nodded. "That would be fine. But I do need to know… Is this level of Grimm activity normal for you?"

Now that Skye mentioned it, Jade could see her point. The number of Grimm they'd taken out upon their arrival shouldn't have been a problem for a town of this size, especially not one that had clearly been around for some time. Settlements didn't typically last very long if that number of Grimm invaded them regularly. Jade wondered how old Northingham was… it had clearly been around for a few generations, but she knew it hadn't existed during the Great War, so unless it had been established immediately following the Vytal Treaty, it had been here for less than a century.

"No, we don't," one of the village councilwomen answered immediately. She looked to be only in her twenties, the youngest of the gathered officials by at least ten years, and was easily distinguishable from the others by the very elaborate braid in her blonde hair. "The earthquake we had last week wasn't a bad one—no deaths, only a handful of injuries, and minimal damage to property—but it did take out several portions of our outer palisade fence and some of the older sections of the inner one as well. We've been attempting to rebuild them, but our supplies on hand are limited and needed for other repairs as well, and of course we've had to hold the Grimm at bay while we make our repairs. Our progress has been slowed to almost nothing."

She indicated the bullhead that had been able to land in the square after the Grimm had been cleared out, with piles of lumber, bags of concrete mix, and other construction materials in neat-ish stacks all around. The pilot brought out another few sacks to add on as they watched. "Thanks to the supplies you've brought with you, we'll finally be able to make some real headway."

Jade was more than a little relieved to hear that the earthquake hadn't caused any fatalities. She didn't want to think about the _last_ time she'd been around for disaster relief—eastern Anima, five years ago. That poor village, suffering severe floods after a storm… By the time they'd gotten there, the Grimm had already run rampant through the town, and out of several hundred townspeople, there had only been a few dozen survivors. Yang had immediately called for evacuation to Mistral City, and the two of them had had to defend the surviving populace for four days until the transport had arrived. Last Jade knew, the town had been deserted and was slowly sinking into the ocean.

"So we'll get started on border defense, right away."

Skye's words broke through Jade's misty haze of memory, and she tuned back in to the discussion just in time to see her partner shaking hands with the officials one last time.

xxxxx

Skye yawned and stretched as she headed for the general store to buy some breakfast for her team and herself, appreciating the brilliant early-morning sunshine on her bare skin as she walked. She'd been pleasantly surprised by their accommodations. While sleeping in a barn certainly wasn't something she'd ever thought she'd find herself doing, the hayloft was light and airy, filled with bales of sweet-smelling hay. There was enough room for all four of them, and as the elder councilwoman—Skye couldn't remember her name—had promised, it was also clean.

With part of the town's defenses down, and Grimm attacks increasing, they'd agreed to take turns staying on watch, so that they could rouse the others if it proved necessary during the night. But they'd only designated two watches; Jade, the night owl, had volunteered for the early shift, and Aurum, the morning person, had taken the late one, leaving both Skye and Indie to get a full night's sleep.

She bought four breakfast sandwiches with egg, cheese, and sausage to fill them up, along with some cookies for later and coffee for all of them, and smiled cheerily at the cashier as she paid for all of the food with her credit card. After living with her teammates for two years, she was pretty sure she could have recited their coffee preferences in her sleep. Jade took it black, nothing but straight coffee. Indie liked cream and a squirt or two of chocolate sauce. Aurum preferred milk—not cream, never cream, which Skye had learned the hard way—and two sugars. Skye actually could have gone for some tea rather than coffee today, but the store had a pretty pitiful selection of teas and she could probably use the caffeine.

Jade was already awake when Skye returned to the barn; Skye passed her the proper coffee cup and went to wake up Indie.

Aurum, who was packing up her bag for the day, paused in her task to take the appropriate drink and to wolf down her breakfast. By the time she'd finished, Skye was dragging Indie over and shoving the coffee in her face. Indie took it gratefully.

"So… what's our plan?" Aurum asked.

Skye thought about it for a minute as she unwrapped the paper from her sandwich. "Well, Ms. Slate showed us the breaks in the outer walls yesterday." Slate was the name of the youngest official, who seemed like she was doing the majority of the work to get the village's repairs finished and the citizens back to their normal lives. "There's only two big ones, and those are where most of the Grimm are getting in. There's also a bunch of smaller ones—too small for any real threat to slip through, so I think we can safely focus on the big ones for the time being. I'd say… Indie and I should monitor those from up high, since we can fight from a distance, and the two of you be our backup in case any Grimm get past us."

Jade, poking some egg back inside her sandwich before taking another bite, raised and lowered one shoulder. "I mean, if you want me on the ground, who am I to argue?"

Skye gave her partner her best _Oh-really?_ look, one she'd shamelessly copied from her mom. She knew full well that Jade didn't want to be up high, especially after yesterday. The skeptical look was completely wasted. Jade was too busy cramming the rest of her breakfast into her mouth in a single bite to notice her partner. Skye cringed internally at Jade's bad manners—she was usually a little better than that—but a minute later decided it wasn't worth arguing over and started munching on her own sandwich.

"So, sounds like a plan," Indie mumbled, shrugging. She wasn't entirely awake yet, but she looked infinitely more alert now that she'd added some caffeine to her system than she had when Skye had first woken her up. "CCT signal isn't great out here, but this village is small enough that our scroll signals will still be able to reach each other." She punctuated her words by raising her coffee cup and draining its contents.

"Then it's settled." Skye stood up, tossing her elegant blue-and-silver backpack over one shoulder. The pack looked a little flimsy, but appearances were deceiving; it was packed with pockets and sturdy enough to hold her entire Dust supply, a good amount of food, and some other essentials like her wallet, a few pens, and a small first aid kit. Skye had gotten it as a fifteenth-birthday present from Yang, and she adored it. "We'll split up into partner pairs, and keep watch. Keep in touch with conference calls if necessary, and make sure you have enough food and water for the day. We might be able to take a break at some point, but don't count on it."

With that, she turned and left, trusting the others to follow her lead. She'd already decided that it didn't really matter who monitored which breach, so she headed for the one on the far end of the village. Sneaking a glance behind her, she was pleased to see Jade following a few steps behind her, while Aurum and Indie turned west a block later.

They walked in silence the rest of the way, until they reached the weak point in the wall. Skye was impressed with the town's defenses: there was a double palisade around the town, and she'd heard bells when they'd arrived that seemed to be the equivalent of the Grimm alert siren in Vale.

Jade paused to survey their watch point. "Want a boost up? I can do that easy enough."

"Why bother?" Skye asked. "I can lift myself up with my semblance."

"Yeah, but if I haul you up, you won't have to use any aura," Jade pointed out. "Save it for the baddies."

Jade had a point. Skye shrugged and held her hands out. Jade crouched down, holding onto Skye's hands, and Skye stepped onto her partner's shoulders as gently as she could. Jade straightened up, letting Skye easily hop onto the low roof of the shed next to the palisade.

"See anything?" Jade asked.

"Not _yet_ ," Skye grumbled. "I'm not at the highest point yet; give me a minute." She hauled herself up a few feet until she was at the peak, panting slightly; the structure had a pretty steep roof. "Okay, I can see something, but…" She paused, squinting. "…I'm pretty sure it's just a shadow, nothing to worry about. Nothing's moving out there, or at least not in a way that looks like it's anything other than wind."

"Good to know." Jade leaned against the building, looking deliberately casual, but Skye wasn't fooled. She could tell by the slant of her partner's shoulders and the tilt of her head that Jade was ready to spring into battle at any moment. She settled back on the roof to wait.

xxxxx

Indie had very methodically crisscrossed the streets of the town upon their arrival, looking for a particular address. She'd found it yesterday, while she and Aurum had been on their way to their post, but she hadn't been able to stop then. Now, she approached the door.

The house was a plain, one-story building that looked about the size of SAIJ's dorm room. As Indie hesitantly went up the walkway toward the front door, she noticed the words "Savu Knight, 28 Barr Lane" written in small letters over the doorknob.

Her heart pounding—in anticipation? Fear? Probably both—she raised a hand to knock, then hesitated again.

 _What are you waiting for?_ Part of her brain screamed at her.

 _I don't know!_ Another part wailed back.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there like that, frozen in indecision with her hand raised, but finally, _finally_ reached deep down and found the resolve she needed. Gripping that resolve as tightly as she could, she somehow found the courage to give a few solid raps on the front door.

A muffled voice called, "One moment!" from inside. A minute later, the door swung open and Indie found herself face to face with a man who looked about fifty. He had light gray hair cut short, and he regarded her with curiosity evident in his cornflower blue eyes. She stared at him for a moment in wordless fascination, until he finally cleared his throat, jarring her out of her reverie, and asked in a pleasant tone, "May I help you?"

"I—" Indie's voice choked off. She had to start over. In a faint tone, that didn't sound anything like her normal one, she asked, "Are you… Savu Knight?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am. What can I do for you?"

Indie pushed her hood back to keep it from falling into her face; usually she didn't mind, but that was hardly the kind of first impression she wanted to make here. "I… I am—"

"I know who you are." Savu's tone had gone odd, as well. He turned, holding the door wide, his hand shaking slightly. "And I know why you're here. Please, come inside."

Maybe it wasn't the _best_ idea in the world to just walk trustingly into a stranger's home, but Indie knew she wasn't thinking straight. She followed him in, taking in the home. It was small, but it was also neat as a pin, with no clutter anywhere.

"I have some water on the stove for tea. Would you like some?" Savu asked from behind her. "And please, have a seat."

"I—Yes, please," Indie answered. She sat down rather awkwardly in the chair he'd indicated. A moment later, he walked into the room—the living room, from the look of it—and sat down across from her, handing her a steaming mug of tea before sitting down himself.

"I… always hoped this day would come." Savu looked blank for a moment. "I… I just realized, I know who you are, but not your name. Do you… still call yourself Indigo?"

"Yes." Indie nodded rapidly, then forced herself to stop before it became awkward… or, well, before it became _more_ awkward than it already was. "My name is Indigo Amitola-Rose."

"That… that's a lovely name. Did… did the orphanage give it to you, or…?"

Indie gave one quick, sharp head shake, trying to avoid a repeat of the awkward head-nodding from a moment earlier. "No, they just called me… Indigo. It was my name, and they weren't going to change it. I have… I have both of my parents' last names."

Savu looked pleased, all of a sudden. "So… you have a good family? They take care of you?"

"Y-yes, they're wonderful people," Indie answered. This was so _surreal_ , sitting here and having this conversation.

In an attempt to make herself feel less pathetic, Indie began looking around the room. A shelf full of photographs caught her eye. One was an image of a smiling couple. It looked like it was maybe an engagement photo: Savu, with fewer lines on his face and his hair a darker shade of gray, standing with his arm around a young woman. Next to it… a picture of a sleeping infant. Indie's breath caught in her throat. "Is that—?"

She never got the chance to finish her sentence. Loud bells had begun to ring; Indie was sure they could be heard throughout the entire town. That was the whole point, after all. She knew what it was: the signal of a Grimm attack. Springing out of her seat, she frantically grabbed for the scroll in her pocket.

It rang in her hand, right on cue. She jabbed her finger at the button. "Indie!" came Jade's voice. "I don't know where the hell you've gotten to, but you need to come to the town square right away! There's a whole bunch of—" The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a loud crash and a scream. "Just get here as soon as you can!" The scroll let out a sharp beep, indicating that Jade had ended the call.

Indie immediately made for the door. Savu blocked her way. "No, you can't go out there! Those bells mean there's Grimm attacking the town! You need to stay here where it's safe; I can protect you—"

"I know what it means," Indie answered. "And what it _means_ is that I have a job to do. I can protect myself." She pushed past him and ran out the door, pausing only to call, "Stay inside until the all-clear sounds!" before letting the door slam shut behind her.

xxxxx

Savu stared out the small window on his front door, watching disbelievingly as the daughter he hadn't seen in twenty years effortlessly scaled the large maple tree across the road, then leaped from the branches onto the roof of the Chandlers' house. He could see none of the awkwardness that had been present in her only a few moments ago; the way she was moving now spoke of practiced confidence. With a quick flick of the long cape she wore, she revealed a bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to her back. He stared in amazement as she pulled the bow free and took off running, with sure, easy strides, leaping between rooftops as she made her way toward the square, before leaning back against the wall in wonder. _My daughter… is a Huntress._

He desperately wanted to go out there, ensure that she was safe, but repressed the urge. She was trained for this, with a weapon and aura and whatever else it was Huntresses had that made them so good at fighting. He had none of that. No, he had to trust that his daughter knew what she was doing.

Savu quickly dragged one of his mismatched dining chairs to the door, so he could watch in case she reappeared. Even if she didn't, being this close to the entrance to his home meant that he could race down to the square as soon as the all-clear sounded. Shaking his head in bemusement, he sank down onto the seat.

 _A Huntress… who would have guessed?_

 **Okay, this one was a ton of fun for me to do. I've been so focused on slowing down and working on character development the last several chapters, I forgot how much I love writing fight scenes. But I also enjoyed writing Indie finally getting to meet her birth father. His name is a Finnish word meaning "smoke."**

 **Please leave a review!**


	44. Unexpected

**I'm officially unemployed now… sigh. Really not what I'd imagined for myself when I accepted my job back in December. I'm doing a lot more writing than I have in the past—I know from experience that boredom is a terrible enemy, so I'm doing my best to stave it off. So far, it's working—all this free time is doing good things for my productivity. I'd still rather have a job, though. Filed for unemployment the other day (first time ever) and it took ages because the system kept crashing. It wasn't designed to handle so many people on the website at once.**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and not me.**

 **Unexpected**

Skye growled under her breath as she slashed at the ugly monster in front of her. It snarled at her, snapping its teeth and growling back.

 _Why'd it have to be Scavengers?!_

Skye had never liked the rat-shaped Grimm, that occasionally swarmed into cities, even making it into the elite streets of Atlas on occasion. They were possibly the ugliest Grimm in existence, with their spiky, matted-looking bodies giving the illusion of real rat fur, their three eyes, their curving yellow claws, and their _tails_ … which unlike regular rat tails, were barbed at the end and the beasts could use them like whips.

One of the few Grimm species that didn't avoid urban areas, young Scavengers weren't much larger than regular rats and were regarded as nuisances more than any real threat. Like their mortal brethren, they were found in nearly every kind of habitat on Remnant. They often coexisted alongside mortal animals in the cities, living in cracks and crevices.

Older, larger Scavengers couldn't get away with living in populated areas. Once they reached a certain size, they became an actual threat and had to be dealt with, usually dying at the hands of a trained Huntsman. But occasionally one would flee civilization before it could be killed, and meet up with others, forming packs and making it harder to defeat them. An invasion of this size wasn't unusual. Skye had counted at least twenty of them roaming the streets, ranging from about the size of a wheelbarrow to that of a small car.

The only good thing about Scavengers was that they typically had very few of the bony spikes that acted like armor for Grimm, so it was fairly easy to defeat them simply by slicing them apart. Skye and Aurum were doing their best at that, while Jade was using brute strength to attack a few on her own several feet away.

 _Where the_ _ **hell**_ _is Indie?!_

Seriously, Skye was going to _murder_ her teammate for ditching them like this. Indie would have been a real help in this fight, sniping from the high ground with her arrows that literally couldn't miss their targets, and now she was nowhere to be seen.

As if merely thinking her name had summoned her to the fight, the monster that Skye had been prepared to freeze to the ground suddenly lurched back, a blue arrow lodged firmly in its flank, before it exploded into a shower of shadowy mist. Indie's voice sounded from above. "Sorry I'm late!" Her apology was punctuated by a series of _thunk_ s as more arrows rained down on the horde of Grimm.

Skye vowed that she was absolutely going to have _words_ with the hooded girl once this battle was over, but for now there were more important things to focus on. Like making sure nobody died. Shoving her irritation down, she switched her Dust supply to fire and aimed at two larger Scavengers that were trying to attack Aurum from behind, before switching again, to lightning this time, and swinging a bolt of electricity like a whip to take out another one of the monsters. Using a whip to take down a Scavenger seemed appropriate; despite her irritation, Skye couldn't quite suppress a smirk at the irony.

Finally, most of the pack looked like they were defeated. Only three or four remained in the square, but Aurum and Jade had both vanished, presumably hunting down any stragglers. Skye dispatched the few remaining Grimm, then allowed herself a moment to breathe deeply as she looked up at Indie perched on the rooftop. _Where was she when the Grimm first started attacking? What was she doing, and why wasn't she close enough by to hear us yelling?_ Skye wouldn't have been surprised if _Aurum_ had done that, but Indie was so down-to-earth…

An odd thumping sound entered Skye's consciousness. That… couldn't mean anything good. A split second later, a shadow sped around the corner ahead and made a beeline for Skye, stopping in front of the heiress and resolving into her missing teammates. Aurum was out of breath—from the fight, the use of her semblance, or from carrying Jade along with her, Skye wasn't sure. Maybe all three. They didn't have the chance to say a word before the source of the noise barreled around the corner, revealing itself as the thing they'd been running from.

Skye found her voice first. "A King Scavenger?" Despite her best effort, she couldn't keep a slight tremor out of her words.

Regular, garden variety Scavengers were bad enough, but a King… It was the size of a large truck, and its three yellow eyes burned with hatred as it regarded the team in front of it. There were a number of small bone spikes on top of its head, a crude mockery of a crown. Skye had been relieved that most of the pack hadn't had much in the way of armor, and had been easy enough to defeat, but this King Scavenger was absolutely _covered_ in the bony white spikes typical on mammalian Grimm. Their job had just gotten a _lot_ harder.

Without warning, an arrow came sailing down from the roof, but the beast somehow turned and moved out of the way just in time for the arrow to be deflected off one of its spines. Indie screamed a curse word from the rooftop at her bad luck, but the arrow, sunk deep into the ground a few feet away from the thing, exploded a second later, releasing a fiery wave that noticeably scorched the monster's hide. _Not a total loss, then._

Skye switched back to lightning, calling up the power of her semblance to try and slow the thing down so her teammates would have an easier time taking it out. Another arrow launched, but the monster twitched its tail almost lazily, knocking the projectile away and causing it to ricochet into a tree. The bark froze over an instant later—Indie must have decided to change tactics and save her explosive arrows. Or… she could have used them all. Skye had never before in her life seen Indie's arrows get deflected. This thing was _fast_.

Aurum was swinging Aurora Blaze, the twin fans glowing light blue. Was she trying to freeze it to the ground? Whatever she was doing, it didn't seem to be having any effect whatsoever on the monster. Jade, her weapons in their gun form, was shooting at it, but that wasn't very effective either.

The time dilation ran out, and the Grimm snarled victoriously before starting to advance on them once again. Without pausing to think her next move through, Skye formed a series of glyph platforms and launched herself at it. She swung between a few of them before sinking Gladiola into the beast's left eye.

With a roar that sounded more angry than pained, the giant rat began shaking its head madly. With a loud yelp, Skye lost her grip and went flying, her sword still lodged firmly in the monster's eye. _Idiot! You know better than to lose hold of your weapon!_ she mentally berated herself as she soared through the air. Even worse, without her sword to act as a focus, she couldn't even call up a glyph to break her fall; twisting her body in an attempt to land in a way that would cause the _least_ amount of damage to her aura possible, she had to resort to an extremely painful back handspring that still sent her skidding back, landing heavily on her side in the dirt.

"Eat this!" Jade yelled at the Grimm, smashing at it with her weapons. Both of the green tonfa were crackling with electricity. Aurum was still trying to use her Dust attacks, fire this time, but the creature seemed completely unfazed.

From up on the roof, Indie shouted, "I'm out of arrows!" Her voice held the slightest tinge of fear. Skye fought down a shiver—they were _not_ going to lose the fight to this overgrown rodent!

A cool feeling suddenly washed over her. Her field of vision narrowed to just the Grimm and her teammates, and everything suddenly seemed to be happening in slow motion—her teammates' attacks, the movement of the Grimm, even the tree branches directly overhead. Her eyes zeroed in on her sword, still lodged firmly in the monster's eye, not that it did much good. It wasn't even like the monster was blinded now, since Grimm "saw" by sensing emotions from people and not with actual vision.

Still viewing the fight in slow-mo, a plan suddenly sprang fully formed into Skye's mind. She didn't take the time to think it over, just went for it with the kind of reckless abandon she usually associated with Aurum. The heiress rushed the monster, ducking a swipe of its claws and leaping, to land on its face. It shook its head again, and tried to paw her off when that didn't work, but Skye desperately held on, reaching out for her sword hilt. She grunted with effort, and gained another inch… _Just… a little… more… yes!_

Her hand grasped the weapon which was as familiar to her as her own reflection, then let out a scream of pain as a set of extremely sharp teeth closed around her ankle. She could _feel_ her aura straining, flickering as it tried to protect her. So far it was holding, but she could tell she was very nearly out.

 _Only gonna get one shot at this…_

With a last burst of effort, Skye managed to pull the trigger on her sword hilt. The sword, still set to lightning mode, lit up in a bright yellow flash, and a split second later, the beast simply disintegrated, as arcs of electricity tore it apart from the inside.

The force of the explosion launched Skye through the air like a rag doll. Through the haze of shadow and residual electricity sparking here and there, she could see that Aurum and Jade, caught in the midst of the explosion, had covered their faces. She landed heavily in the dirt once again, knocking the wind out of her in a sharp "Oof!" Her aura finally gave out, and she bounced a few times before coming to a halt against a low building, maybe a shed of sorts. Dazed, she could only groan. She was _almost_ certain the cartoon-y looking Beowolves chasing each other around her head weren't real…

Her partner was immediately at her side. "Don't move," Jade ordered. "You might be injured." She reached for Skye's foot. The heiress managed to shake her head, and regretted it as her vision went gray and fuzzy for a moment.

"No, my aura didn't break until I hit the ground. My ankle's fine." Snapping out of her little hallucination, Skye moved her arms experimentally, one at a time, before moving on to do the same thing with her legs. Nothing bent the wrong way, which was shocking considering how gracelessly she'd landed on the ground, but she wasn't about to complain about being uninjured.

Jade looked skeptical, but moved on to running her hands gently over Skye's head to double check for any injuries. Skye was still wheezing a little from her hard landing, but managed to wave Aurum over to them. "Are there any more? Grimm, I mean?"

Aurum hurriedly shook her head. "No, we dealt with the small fry before the King showed up. That was the last one."

"Good. Then sound the all clear." Skye's head was getting clearer by the minute. She knew that each building in this town had two alarm buttons inside the door, and a loudspeaker on the roof. The first person to spot any Grimm would sound the alarm, which was loud enough to be heard throughout the village, and the other button was the all clear signal. It was a very efficient system. Aurum nodded, and sped across the street to the general store to inform them that the danger had passed.

xxxxx

The bells were ringing through the town, sounding out the rhythm that indicated the danger was over. Jade wasn't sure how, but her team leader had somehow escaped her reckless assault on the King Scavenger without so much as a scratch. Indie had shimmied down from her rooftop as soon as Aurum had pressed the button, retrieving her arrows from where they lay scattered around the battle site, then joining the rest of her team.

"Indigo! Are you all right?"

Jade turned, eyeing the newcomer who had just frantically rushed onto the scene. He was standing _much_ too close to Indie for Jade's liking, and her eyes narrowed, wondering who the hell this guy was and what he wanted with her cousin.

Indie was brushing off his concern, a smile on her face. "I'm _fine_. My aura didn't even come close to breaking, see? Besides, I was up on the roof the whole time. They didn't come near me." She held up her scroll. Even from here, Jade could see her team's aura meters displayed. She narrowed her eyes even further. The fact that Indie didn't seem bothered by the stranger's presence was a good sign, but even so…

Aurum not-so-subtly inserted herself between Indie and the man. Jade sidled a bit closer, ready to act as backup if necessary. Not that Indie _needed_ backup—she'd gotten much more proficient at hand-to-hand combat in the last couple years, she'd recently started carrying small knives in her boots, and she'd become far more comfortable with speaking her mind than she used to be. Unless the stranger had his aura unlocked, which seemed unlikely, Jade was confident that Indie could handle herself in a fight. But it couldn't hurt to let him know that Indie's teammates had her back.

"Err…" The man looked around at them. "This… this must be your team, yes?"

Skye very deliberately rested her hand on her sword hilt, the threat behind the motion louder than any words. "I think the better question here is… Who are _you_?"

Indie pushed her hood back, running her fingers through her hair nervously. Jade was still skeptical, but she could see that her cousin wasn't showing any signs of hostility toward the man. That was good, that meant she'd already met him and he probably wasn't a creep or anything like that. Still… she wanted to know who he was.

"Um… guys?" Indie was looking between her three teammates, who were now _all_ pointedly standing in front of her, weapons ready to be drawn at any moment. "It's… it's all right. You can put your weapons away."

"So, you know this guy?" Skye asked in a very cool tone, looking him up and down, clearly not in any hurry to remove her hand from her sword. Jade couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Skye adopt the "perfect heiress" face—she'd dropped the act around Beacon about two days into their first year—but the expression was locked into place right now.

Indie sighed, her shoulders slumping. "This is… Savu Knight." She hesitated another moment. "He… He's my father."

Skye looked him up and down for a moment. "You sure about that?"

"Skye!" Jade yelled, momentarily startled out of protective mode by her most proper teammate's sudden and complete lack of tact. "What the hell is the _matter_ with you?!"

"Where do you want me to start?" Aurum muttered. Jade groaned as Skye and Aurum began glaring at each other.

Indie, now extremely red-faced, made a valiant effort to continue with the introductions. "I… yes, they're my teammates. Skye, Aurum, and Jade," she added, indicating each one as she said their names.

Thankfully, Indie's words were enough to snap Skye and Aurum out of their little glaring match. Both turned back to the conversation, at nearly the same instant. Jade could see the man—Savu—looking them over and sizing them up one by one, before turning to Aurum, who was standing closest to him, and saying, "You… I know you. Tournament Champion, Aurum Belladonna?"

Aurum flicked her ears, possibly trying to emphasize their presence, before coolly replying, "Yes, I am." She said nothing else.

"And you…" Savu continued, now looking at Skye, "I know you as well. There aren't many people in Remnant who don't know about you, Miss Schnee."

Skye gave him an obligatory-looking inclination of her head.

"I did watch the tournament," Savu added, "so I recognize you as well." Jade frowned; the words had been directed at her. "Team… SAIJ, I believe?"

Jade nodded, finally relaxing a bit. This close, she could see that Skye was right, although she could have said it a little more delicately. There was no resemblance between Savu and Indie, but she knew her teammate. Indie would never have introduced him as her father if she wasn't completely, one hundred percent certain of it. Although Jade was still _very_ interested to know how Indie had known how to find him. Had she… secretly been researching her birth family?

It wasn't _that_ shocking to find out—Indie liked knowing things, and Jade was _maybe_ a tiny bit surprised that Indie hadn't looked into it until now—but how long had she been at it? And why hadn't she deigned to share the search with her teammates? That hurt a little, knowing that Indie had deliberately kept all knowledge of her quest from them. They were supposed to be her best friends, and yet she'd hidden this.

Still, watching Indie with her father—and there was no doubt in her mind that these two were related, despite their physical differences—kindled something… unfamiliar in Jade's heart. It took her a moment to put her finger on it: _envy_.

Maybe… maybe it was time Jade found out something about her own father.

xxxxx

Aurum hadn't been sure why Indie so vehemently turned down Savu's offer to stay with him for the remainder of the team's time in Northingham, until they'd settled into the barn that night. "His house is tiny," Indie was saying. "We wouldn't all _fit_ , and we'd be loud. We're better off staying here."

Skye, lying on her stomach with her chin propped on one hand, reached for her scroll. As she flicked through something, she slyly remarked, "How long have you been planning this?"

Indie looked perplexed. "Planning what?"

"This." Skye waved one hand through the air, indicating the surrounding area. "This mission. Or are you trying to tell me that us ending up here was a total coincidence, that you _didn't_ choose it so you could sneak off and visit your… father? How long have you known about _him_?"

Aurum didn't care for the accusing note she could hear in Skye's voice. Based on Indie's face, neither did she. "It _was_ a total coincidence, or are you forgetting that coming here was _your_ idea, not mine? _I_ didn't want to come here, because this was listed as the last known address for Savu Knight, and I didn't think I was ready to see him yet. I wanted to contact him before I just showed up on his doorstep, but when you all agreed to taking this mission, I figured it was a sign that I needed to get off my ass and actually _do_ something. And to answer your other question, I've been researching my birth parents since the beginning of the school year." She paused a minute to take a breath, while Aurum tried to absorb that information.

Indie continued a minute later, in a quieter tone, "I felt like this was something I had to do by myself. Maybe I should have told you, but… I didn't trust you not to butt in and try to take over the whole thing from me. This was something _I_ needed to do."

Aurum flinched.

Skye frowned at her teammate. "I can understand that, but you should at least have told us where you were going before you left this morning."

"And that wouldn't have brought up a whole bunch of other questions I didn't want to answer?" Indie shot back. "I wasn't ready for this, but the opportunity fell into my lap, and I felt like I had to go for it! I totally would've lost my nerve and wimped out if I didn't do it right away."

"Indie…" Jade didn't say anything else, but the sympathy on her face was obvious as she gently patted Indie on the shoulder.

Skye's expression softened a bit. "I'm not saying you should have told us exactly where you were going and why. But a simple 'Hey, I have an errand to run, I'll be back in an hour' would have been appreciated. At least then we wouldn't have panicked, not knowing where you were, and maybe making the Grimm attack even worse than it was. I was _worried_ about you, Indie. We all were. When the bells started up and you were nowhere in sight, I was mad, but then when more Grimm appeared and you _still_ weren't there, I started to think…"

"I get it." Indie's voice was shaky. "I'll tell you if I ever have to do something like this again." She turned away, and after making an attempt to discreetly wipe her eyes, faced her teammates once again. "I know the work's almost done and we're leaving on Tuesday, but can we take one night off? He's invited us all over for dinner."

Aurum didn't know why Savu had invited all of Team SAIJ and not just his daughter, but she was glad he had. It meant she could watch him and make sure he didn't have any major flaws, like, say, a prejudice against Faunus. Her ears were on full display the entire time, and she was making every attempt she could to highlight them, but he was never anything less than polite and respectful of her, which she appreciated.

If anything, Savu was much more uncomfortable with having a Schnee at his table. After Skye "accidentally" knocked over her water glass (which Aurum had a sneaking suspicion had been a ruse to try and make Savu realize she wasn't perfect), she hurriedly asked, "Is there a rag I can wipe this up with?"

"N-no, I'll take care of it," Savu stammered, standing up.

Skye scowled grumpily at his back.

Aurum suddenly wondered if the extreme awkwardness that Savu was exuding could be hereditary. Indie had never been very socially competent; she understood books and weapons and Dust better than she did other people. Aurum had always assumed it was a learned behavior, since Ruby was the same way and so was Ilia to a lesser extent, but she supposed it could have something to do with genetics too.

Savu returned with a cloth in hand and quickly mopped up the small puddle on the table. Luckily, Skye's glass had been nearly empty when she'd overturned it, so the water hadn't spread very far.

"You are… all in your third year at Beacon?" Savu asked as he wiped.

"Uh… yeah," Aurum answered, when it looked like no one else was going to.

Savu smiled at them. "You'll be graduating in a year, then."

"Will you come?" Indie asked suddenly. "To my graduation, I mean."

"Oh, please do," Jade added, before Savu could respond. "It'll be good for you two to spend some time together when we're not on business. Plus it would be the perfect chance for you to meet Ruby and Ilia!"

"I… will have to think about it," Savu replied, after a moment's hesitation. "I do have a job, you know."

"You're a schoolteacher," Aurum pointed out. "Your school year will be over by then. There won't be any reason for you to miss it."

Savu looked surprised. "When is it?"

"October seventeenth this year," Skye answered immediately. Aurum stared; how was Skye so sure of the date, when SAIJ wasn't even graduating this year? Seriously, she had no reason to know that. Skye went on, "It'll probably be in November next year though, because of the Vytal Festival. It's always later in Festival years than it is in the off years."

"Then… I will plan to be there." Savu looked completely at ease for the first time since Team SAIJ had entered his home tonight. Aurum smiled in satisfaction. He would probably be just as awkward meeting the rest of the family… but it was nice to see him becoming more comfortable around them all.

xxxxx

Indie hopped down from the branches of the tree where she'd been sitting, landing gracefully on her feet. She turned to look at her partner. "Looks like that's it. The walls are back up; no Grimm's getting in _here_ anytime soon."

Aurum nodded. "Yeah." She suddenly pricked up her ears, catching the sound of something beyond Indie's ability to hear. "Perfect timing, too; sounds like our ride's just about here."

It took a few more minutes as they trudged back to the center of town, but Indie soon heard the roar of an aircraft approaching.

Skye and Jade were already waiting for them, Skye looking perfectly composed while Jade brushed some leaves out of her hair. The team stood well back, off to the side, so the bullhead would have a clear landing zone. Indie wondered if it was the same pilot that had brought them out here a week ago; they'd sent him back to Vale after he'd unloaded the supplies, so others could make use of his aircraft if necessary, assuring him that they would fill out the appropriate requisition form online when it came time for them to be picked up.

While the aircraft performed its landing maneuvers, Indie's attention was caught by a slight movement, down another street. Suspecting she knew what it was, she started heading in that direction, only to be stopped as Aurum tugged on her cape. "Where are you going? We need to leave now so we can be back at Beacon before dark."

"I know," Indie hurried to reassure her partner. "I'll just… be a few minutes."

Aurum followed her gaze, and understanding blossomed on her face a moment later. "Okay, just… make sure you don't take too long."

Indie nodded, her attention still on the figure ahead. She knew Aurum had seen them too. Savu was still waiting when she got there a minute later. He searched her face wordlessly for a moment.

"I was afraid you were going to leave without saying good-bye."

"I wouldn't do that to you," Indie replied. "This was… maybe a little strange, and not at all how I planned it, but… I'm glad I was able to spend some time with you this week."

"And I am glad as well." Savu held something out to her. "Here, please take this with you. I can have another copy made, but… you should have this one."

Indie looked down at what he'd given her: a small framed photo, a family portrait. Her fingers closed tightly around the frame, as her eyes greedily scoured the image of her birth mother, Delphine Petros, smiling happily as she stood next to her husband with a tiny baby in her arms. This had been the last photo taken of them as a family, before Delphine's illness and Savu's spiral into depression, and his subsequent realization that he could barely take care of himself, let alone an infant, that had prompted his decision to bring her to the orphanage in Vale. It was an incredibly meaningful gift.

Savu was quiet as Indie stared at the photo for several long moments. He slowly reached out one hand and rested it on her shoulder. Indie didn't mind; it felt… nice. "If you don't mind…"

Indie looked up quickly.

"… could I hug you? I haven't gotten to hold you in twenty years, and—"

Savu didn't get to finish whatever he'd been about to say; Indie had flung herself at him and was hugging him tightly. His arms tightened around her as she buried her face in his shoulder. Indie knew she gave good hugs; she wasn't sure it would be possible to live in the proximity of Ruby Rose for any significant length of time and not develop an appreciation for hugging. But Savu pulled back after a minute, smiling sadly at her.

"I think… your friends are waiting."

Indie turned to see her teammates waving their arms in the air, obviously trying to get her attention. The bullhead had landed, and the aircraft was ready to board. Indie turned back to Savu and, pretending not to notice the tears forming at the corners of his eyes, hurriedly said what she needed to. "I'll come back sometime. I promise, this isn't the last you'll see of me."

 **Some feels for you all on this fine day… I actually teared up a little while writing that last scene.**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**


	45. Wrapping Up the Year

**Quarantine sucks. That is all.**

 **I do not own anything you recognize from RWBY.**

 **Wrapping Up the Year**

SAIJ had been back on the Beacon campus for all of fifteen minutes when Aurum came across her girlfriend sitting at a picnic table on the quad, talking on her scroll. Coming a little closer, her ears picked up, "…in Vale. Not as much, no…" She paused for a minute, letting whoever she was talking with say something. Aurum sneaked a little closer, not trying to eavesdrop, but wanting to see how close she could get before Pitch noticed her.

"Yes, I'll be making a stop there." Pitch, as though suddenly realizing she was being watched, twisted around in her seat. Her eyes lit up, and a grin spread over her face as she turned back to her scroll. "Mom, Dad… There's someone I want you to meet."

Aurum let a squeak escape her. Pitch had _not_ just sprung that on her with no warning, right? But the raven Faunus was still grinning as she patted the bench next to her. Aurum, resigned to her fate, took the seat.

She found herself looking into a pair of faces. She recognized them, at least vaguely—Pitch had showed Aurum a few pictures of her family before, but that had been a while ago.

"Oh, it's so wonderful to finally meet you!" the red-haired woman on the screen greeted her. "I was beginning to wonder if you were real, or if my daughter was just making you up." She winked one blue eye at the couple. Aurum could feel herself blushing.

"Yes, Mom," Pitch deadpanned. "I invented a girlfriend, and just to make things interesting, I decided to make her the Tournament Champion, someone whose name is known to _every single person on Remnant_."

"Hush, you," the woman dismissed her daughter's words teasingly, a single twitch of her doe ears the only sign that she was amused by the joke. "Aurum, was it?" Aurum nodded her head. "Camellia Sanders. As I said, it's lovely to meet you."

"Yes, I agree," the dark-haired man next to Camellia agreed. Aurum suddenly remembered thinking that Pitch definitely took after her father, at least in her coloring. "Steele Sanders." He smiled at her, revealing a pair of long fangs. Aurum tried to recall if Pitch had mentioned what kind of snake Faunus her father was, but was distracted from that when he continued, "I remember watching your matches. You're a very skilled fighter."

How was Aurum supposed to respond to _that_? "Um… thank you." That was the best she could do, considering her matches had included her grappling with the girl next to her in a _very_ familiar fashion. On a live broadcast. In front of nearly the entire population of Remnant. And they hadn't even been dating yet. Hell, at that point, she'd still been upset over getting rejected by Aubergine, and had had no idea that Pitch had taken an interest in her.

"Did you just get back from your mission?" Pitch asked, nudging Aurum in the ribs.

"I… yes. My team was in Northingham for the last week," Aurum added to Steele and Camellia. "It's the farthest north you can go and still be in Vale."

"I'm sure that was good experience for you," Steele answered. "Did anything interesting happen while you were there?"

He was undoubtedly only asking to be polite, but Aurum couldn't help the memories of the last week that suddenly flashed through her mind. Skye flat-out tackling the King Scavenger, Jade jumping out of the bullhead… and of course finding out what Indie had been spending her time on recently. "Uh… not really."

Camellia's blue eyes lit up playfully. "Oh, I see. The interesting part was what—or should I say _who_ —was waiting for you to get back." She grinned suggestively at the screen; Aurum was suddenly, powerfully, reminded of Jade. "Any plans for tonight?"

"Yeah. _Sleep_. And food, but mostly sleep," Aurum answered, trying to avoid any more innuendo. "I've been sleeping in a barn for most of the last week; not exactly the best place to rest and recharge."

Technically, sleeping in the barn hadn't been a problem at all. It had been surprisingly comfortable, actually. But Aurum wasn't going to give this cheeky woman any more ammunition.

A notification suddenly flashed across Pitch's screen, and the raven Faunus sat up straight, her face twisting into a frown. "Mom, Dad, I… think I have to go now."

"Oh… well, that's too bad," Steele answered. "Aurum, it was wonderful to finally meet you." The image vanished, and Pitch selected the notification that had just appeared.

It opened to a news report from Mistral. Scowling at the headline, _Young Huntress Decimates Grimm_ , Pitch tapped the Play icon and flicked the video into fullscreen mode. "… Beowolf pack was defeated by a powerful young Huntress named Chiara Stelle. This footage of the last few moments of the battle was obtained from a bystander."

The report shifted from the newscaster to another video. Aurum squinted at the screen; the quality was a bit grainy. She was able to make out a figure dressed in blue, recognizable as Chiara even from the back, facing down a sizeable pack of Beowolves, before the young woman raised one hand above her head and a golden ball of energy began to form in her palm.

Aurum was shocked to hear Pitch growl under her breath. The older Huntress muttered, "She better not be about do what I think she's about to do…" Aurum leaned in a bit closer to try and see the video a little better. She recognized the use of Chiara's semblance. Hadn't Tanner mentioned that it was solar energy, that Chiara channeled through her own body? She reeled back, startled, as the entire screen went gold, forcing her to look away for a moment. When she glanced back down at the screen, the Beowolves had vanished, the only sign they had ever been there at all a few wisps of smoke.

"Holy shit," Aurum muttered. "That girl's _good_."

Pitch's expression turned hard. "Don't you _dare_ start in on that. Chiara may be powerful, but that semblance of hers is dangerous! If she uses too much, she could literally burn herself up from the inside. That's not the kind of heroism I want to see." She shook her head in exasperation as she folded her scroll back up. "I swear, sometimes it seems like she's got a death wish." A minute later she added, "I know she's a great strategist, don't get me wrong, but so is Tanner. And Tanner isn't nearly so reckless. I'll never understand why Chiara was named team leader instead."

"Because that wouldn't have made such a nice team acronym?" Aurum wisecracked. She regretted it immediately; Pitch's face looked like a thundercloud.

"I mean it," Pitch growled. "I trust that girl with my _life_ , but… I guess I don't trust her with her own." She let out a breath, her anger slipping for a moment and showing the real concern underneath. "Chiara has no problem with her control over her semblance, and she knows full well how much power she needs to vaporize XYZ number of Grimm. I don't… understand why she keeps doing this… unless it's to show off." She tapped her long fingers against the edge of her scroll. "I need to call her. Can you give me a few minutes?"

Aurum wasn't expecting the flash of jealousy that suddenly flared to life inside her at hearing her girlfriend talking so passionately about another girl. That was _not right_ ; of course Pitch was worried! If one of Aurum's teammates had done anything like what Chiara had done, she would have been just as concerned. She made a firm effort to shove the envy back down before asking, "You're… really worried about her, huh? I… yeah, I should probably go back to my room anyway."

"You are the best girlfriend ever," Pitch dramatically declared, leaning over to kiss her. "Chiara needs someone to yell at her now and then, about not taking risks like this with her life. This cannot be allowed to continue."

xxxxx

Indie hadn't realized it, but meeting her birth father had suddenly driven home how important her family was to her. She'd been looking forward to the yearly family get-together like she usually did, but the team's time in Northingham had brought her eager anticipation to a new level.

She didn't know who had chosen the location this year. If she had to guess, she'd say probably Blake. Rather than picking a fancy restaurant or even an average one, the family was sitting on a series of picnic blankets in a park in central Vale, eating out of coolers and talking loudly over each other. It seemed more Blake's style than anyone else.

"Hey, who made this?" Aurum asked, inspecting some kind of dip before sticking a few chips into it and shoving them all into her mouth at once.

"I did," Jaune answered. "You like it?"

"Yeh," Aurum answered, her mouth still full. "Wha's init?"

Jaune winked. "Secret family recipe."

Indie giggled.

On another blanket nearby, Weiss was asking Blake, "So how was your first year as a teacher?"

"Well, it's not quite over yet," Blake answered, pausing a moment to unwrap another plate of fresh sliced watermelon. "But… overall, I really do like teaching. The students are… a little energetic, but it's a combat school so that didn't really surprise me. They seem to like my teaching style, which I hadn't expected so soon; I thought it would take a couple years to really find my groove. But Glynda told me at my midterm evaluation that the first years all seem enthralled, and the second years are having an easier time with assignments than they were last year."

Weiss frowned. "Isn't having an easier time with assignments a _bad_ thing?"

"No, not like that," Blake hurried to clarify. "I mean, I'm giving out assignments that match the curriculum on the class syllabus, and grading them according to the same rubric all the professors use—you do realize it's a universal system, right? Atlas, Haven, and Shade all use the same ones. I'm being… well, not _harsh_ with my grading, but I have high enough standards, and the students are still averaging three points higher than they were under Trace."

"And… what about the people you're working with?" Yang interjected. "You like them?"

"Mmm… most of them," Blake answered, a little hesitantly.

Nora leaned over from the next blanket and sternly poked Blake in the arm. "I'm cutting you off right there. This is family time, not a dump-on-Emerald session."

Blake looked offended. "I wasn't going to dump on anyone. Besides, Emerald and I have… an agreement."

Indie frowned. There was that word again— _agreement_. But what did that even mean, really? What was it that they were agreeing on?

"Oh." Nora was unable to hide her surprise. "Well… good."

Nora seemed about to ask the question that was now at the front of Indie's mind—who _had_ Blake been talking about, if it wasn't Emerald Planis?—but Lian chose that moment to knock over a bowl of chips. "Ack!"

"No, it's fine," Peony hurried to assure her youngest sister. "Here, we can save most of them since they landed on the blanket, or on your lap."

Indie was thrilled that Peony had managed to make it home this year. She hadn't forgotten Peony's assistance in starting the search for her birth parents, and remembering what her cousin had told her during that conversation about missing her family, had tried to call every so often just so they could talk, but they hadn't seen each other face to face in three years.

This was also Peony's first time coming face to face with her newest family members. She'd met Citrine once before, but not Lizi and Mo. While Citrine was currently engaged in a spirited debate with Aqua about the benefits of using powdered Dust versus crystals, Peony was occupying herself with looking after the three youngest members of the group. Indie supposed it had been growing up with Lian that had made the pink-haired young woman so good with energetic kids, and she was glad—Lizi hadn't stayed seated for more than three minutes at a time since the picnic had started, by Indie's rough estimate, but Peony was handling the girl expertly, and Mo was looking at his cousin with wide eyes, as though she'd just told him all the secrets to the universe.

"Hey Jaune, where are you going next?" Ruby inquired, grinning cheekily. Indie was sure her mom already knew the answer to her question, and just wanted to make her friend squirm a little.

"Oh, real funny," Jaune answered, inspecting his slice of watermelon. "You know perfectly well I'm going to visit a couple of my sisters in Mistral. The next Vytal Festival is being hosted by Haven, so I figure I can turn it into family time if I head for Anima in the next couple months. Gotta take the chance to see them and _stay on their good sides_ while I can." He shuddered exaggeratedly. Indie wondered what creative punishments Jaune's sisters had inflicted on him in the past for staying away too long.

"Mistral, huh…" Yang mused. "Yeah, I could go for some mountains. Especially since I'll be staying in Vale for a few months. Probably won't make the trip to Haven until May or June."

Jade looked skeptical of her mom's claim, but a moment later shrugged as Weiss offered her a can of soda.

Peony had turned the younger kids loose on the grass, and as Indie watched Lian demonstrate some cartwheels for Lizi to copy, lay down on the blanket and sighed. "Ahh… I don't get chances to sit back and relax like this very often. Law school is no joke."

Mo scooted a few inches closer to her, his face still full of hero worship.

Ruby had appropriated an entire container of strawberries for herself, and was eating them one by one. Ilia had a sandwich in one hand, but with the other, was stealthily trying to steal some of the red berries from Ruby. So far, she'd gotten two berries and one smack on the hand, when Ruby had looked over at the wrong moment.

Indie giggled, watching her parents, as she opened one of the coolers, in search of another sandwich. "Oh, is there any PBJ left?"

"I think I had the last one," Nora replied. "There's still…" She dug around in the cooler near her for a minute. "… roast beef, egg salad, and… cheese and tomato, looks like?" She poked suspiciously at one of them. "I dunno, Ren made them up. There's a bunch of fruit left, though; you want any of that?"

Indie considered. "I guess… egg salad. And are there any blackberries?"

Nora rummaged around in the cooler for another minute, but shook her head when she emerged. "Doesn't look like it. Not in here, anyway." She tossed a paper-wrapped sandwich to Indie, who caught it one-handed, and glanced around until her eyes fell on the cooler sitting next to Aurum. "Maybe check that one."

Indie stretched out her hand, reaching for the handle. It was sitting _juuust_ far enough out of her reach that she had to brace her other arm on the ground to keep from toppling over. She finally managed to hook two fingers around the handle and drag it toward her, very pleased when she opened it up and found a bag of plump, ripe blackberries sitting on top of everything else.

Picnics were fun. Family time was even better. Indie wondered, looking around at the large area they'd claimed, when they'd get to do this again. She was already looking forward to it.

 _I wonder if Savu likes blackberries…_

xxxxx

Skye had been completely thrilled when her mom had announced she was staying in Vale for a week after the family reunion. Weiss didn't really do anything that required the use of her Huntress license these days, but she _was_ still licensed, and as such had full access to any and all resources available at any combat academy. Including housing.

"I'm just glad I moved into the building _after_ Yang did," Weiss was saying. "I'm sure she would have taken the next room if she could have, just so she could bother me at all hours of the day. Can you imagine?"

Skye giggled. She knew her mom didn't mind Yang's deliberate immaturity nearly as much as she pretended to, but both of them enjoyed the game and it was an endless source of harmless amusement for the rest of the family as well.

"You've been practicing your time dilation, haven't you?" Weiss asked as the pair entered the dorm building. Skye nodded. "I plan on testing that, you know."

"I _knew_ you'd say that," Skye mumbled. "Jade owes me ten Lien."

Before she could add anything else, Weiss stopped short and began looking around. Skye started doing the same, trying to figure out what had just captured her mom's attention, and finally caught the faint sound of a piano playing from somewhere. Weiss suddenly did a one-eighty and strode back down the hallway the way they'd come, leaving Skye to scramble along in her wake.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to Skye what the source of the music was. Her boyfriend was pounding away at the piano in the first-floor common area. It all looked like random motions to her, but the end result was beautiful. She knew Zelty played piano—he'd told her once that it was actually his best instrument, but he'd had no idea how to weaponize a piano and had gone for building flutes into his daggers instead—but she'd never actually seen him at it before. And he was singing. Very softly, but enough for her to make out the lyrics.

Weiss recognized the song the same moment that Skye did. Her eyes went wide, and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth. She looked enormously pleased, Skye thought, and rightfully so—it was one of her own songs, after all.

"It all begins… a chance to win… A dream that's been a lifetime, an endless vast uphill climb…" As the song ended and that last strains of the piano faded, Weiss began applauding loudly. Skye joined in a beat behind; she felt as though she'd just witnessed a professional performance. The sound prompted Zelty to turn around in his seat, and his face went pink as he realized just who had been listening to him.

"That sounded lovely," Weiss commented, smiling at him. "Skye told me you were talented, but she didn't say just _how_ talented." Her eyes sparkled. "I've heard a lot of different takes on It's My Turn over the years, but I have to say I liked that. Tell me, do you know _all_ my songs?" She eyed Skye for a moment. "I seem to recall an impromptu performance of This Life is Mine from earlier this year."

Skye flushed, remembering the voice recording she'd taken of the last few seconds of that "performance."

"I… most of them," Zelty mumbled, clearly still embarrassed at getting caught playing and singing It's My Turn by the woman who'd written the song in the first place. "I downloaded all your albums my last year in high school, but there were one or two that weren't available."

Weiss considered him for a moment, before abruptly evidently deciding not to dwell on what was clearly a sore subject, and asked, "Are you going back to Atlas over the break?"

"No." Zelty wouldn't meet her eyes. "I don't have anyplace to go."

"I had thought," Weiss began slowly, "that you would stay with your mentor."

Zelty shook his head quickly. "He made the offer, but… his boyfriend just moved in with him, and their home is barely big enough for two, let alone three."

"I see." Weiss closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you ever need anyone to talk to… I'm here."

Skye very pointedly directed her gaze at the wall. This wasn't something she should intrude on. Zelty mostly kept his feelings to himself, but on more than one occasion she'd thought that it would a good thing for him to have someone else to bond with, now and then. Other than his team.

Weiss smiled at him. "Also, if you ever feel like recording any of this, don't hesitate to call me. I have your scroll ID saved, and I would _love_ the chance to get back into the studio at some point. It's been a long time." She ran her hands over the piano keys, flinching as one made a sour note. "Eek. I guess it hasn't been tuned in a while." Playing a quick scale and cringing at the disjointed sounds that erupted from the instrument, a bewildered expression settled over her features. "What on Remnant? It sounded perfect just a minute ago!"

A giggle escaped Skye at her boyfriend's sudden guilty look. "You were using your semblance on it, weren't you? To make it sound better?"

"Yeah." Zelty ran one hand through his blond curls, looking embarrassed at being called on his little trick.

Weiss got a contemplative look on her face. After a long moment, she asked, "Your semblance affects sound?"

Zelty touched the keys again. "My semblance is sound bending. I found it… pretty early on, considering I didn't even have my aura unlocked until I was almost fifteen."

Skye listened intently. His semblance was perfectly suited to him, and she'd always taken it at face value, but now that she thought about it, how _did_ a person discover that they had the ability to manipulate sound?

Weiss gave him an expectant look. "I feel like there's a story there." Her wording was deliberate: not an order, but a request, accompanied by genuine interest.

Zelty shrugged. "It's not a very interesting story. I dropped a glass dish, it shattered on the floor, and it didn't make any noise. I didn't even figure it out until a couple days later." He started as his scroll beeped suddenly, turning pink again as he swiped at it to silence the alarm. "I… I have to go. My team was supposed to be meeting up for one last mission today."

"Leaving it until the very end?" Weiss teased him. "Well, in any case, it was good to talk."

Skye stood off to the side to let him out the door. Weiss watched him leave, a small smile on her face. A minute later, she walked back over to her daughter. "When are you going to marry that boy?"

" _Mom_ ," Skye protested. She wasn't going to deny that she had, occasionally, fantasized about the possibility, but… it was still too early. The image rose in her mind, unbidden, of reading from a picture book to a small blond toddler curled against her side, while Zelty patiently showed an older child the basics of knife fighting across the room. It was a perfect slice of domesticity, unrealistically so, and Skye shook her head to dismiss the image. It certainly wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Groping for a response, she eventually settled on, "Not before we graduate." That seemed like a safe enough thing to say, considering the value she _knew_ her mother placed on education, plus it would let her off the hook on that front for at least the next year.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, looking like she wanted to call Skye on her bluff, but was interrupted by a dark blur flashing past them, accompanied by a "See you later!" Both paused in the middle of the hallway, staring, until Weiss broke the silence. "Was that Aurum?"

"I'm going to say yes," Skye answered, secretly grateful to her rambunctious cousin for once. Aurum's overly energetic ways had actually helped her out for a change, instead of causing her any headaches. She should really do something nice for her teammate soon…

xxxxx

Jade had never had a reason to attend Beacon's graduation before. The upper years tended to not interact with the lower years very much, so her first couple of years at Beacon, the graduating class weren't people she knew. But this year, she'd decided to attend in support of Scarletta.

Seated next to Jade was the rest of her team. Aurum and Indie had decided to come to show support for Tanso, and while Skye wasn't particularly close with any of RUST, she'd tagged along with her team anyway.

Jade zoned out during the monotonous speech of the class valedictorian, a tall guy with bushy brown hair that she vaguely recognized. She let her eyes rove over the teams arrayed on the stage. There were eight teams in this year's graduating class, with four teams on either side of the stage.

The valedictorian had finished his speech and taken his seat. Jade briefly tuned back in, but quickly realized that now it was Goodwitch's turn to address the audience, and promptly drifted back into her thoughts.

It was impossible to ignore the empty chair in one of the rows. The three remaining members of Team ORKD had made the courageous decision to continue with their training, despite losing their teammate so close to the end. It couldn't have been easy—Jade thought that Olive, Korvin, and Jetta all looked like they hadn't gotten enough sleep in a while. She couldn't help but admire their resolve.

"… and now, please recognize our graduates."

Jade snapped back to reality. Goodwitch had stepped off to the side, and was holding up her scroll. "Amethyst Whelk, Team Apricot."

The first student seated on the left side of the stage stood and crossed to the podium. He set his scroll into the indent there, and was rewarded with a soft, bell-like sound. Jade briefly wondered what that was for, but a moment later realized that it must be to change the graduates' IDs from student status to active Huntsman status. In other words, it was downloading their licenses directly to their scrolls. _That's a handy little trick… nice how it's worked into the ceremony._

The teams went in alphabetical order, and then in name order within their respective teams. Each one did the thing with their scrolls, then continued to the Headmistress and shook her hand before returning to their seats.

"Olive Castle, Team ORKD."

Jade spotted a small girl two rows ahead of her immediately perk up. She squinted at the figure, then nudged Indie, who was sitting to her left, and muttered, "Hey, what's a firstie doing here?" while nodding toward the girl.

It took a minute for Indie to figure out who Jade was looking that, then she muttered back, "That's Twila. Her brother was supposed to graduate this year, but…" She tilted her head meaningfully at the empty chair in ORKD's row.

 _Oh_. Jade felt a little bad for not realizing; she'd known RJ's little sister was a student at Beacon. As Olive retrieved her scroll from the pedestal, Jade caught sight of the emblem on the delicate girl's back. She squinted at it—wasn't Olive's emblem a bird with outstretched wings? But now it looked as though something else had been added… some kind of staff-like design.

Olive took her seat and was followed by Korvin. The young man was originally from Vacuo, if Jade was remembering right… and immediately forgot her line of thought as she noticed that Korvin had also changed his emblem. That same staff design had been added to the patch on his shoulder, fitting behind the trident he'd always had. Jetta had the same modification, her stylized maze now a backdrop for that staff.

On a sudden, wild impulse, Jade looked toward Twila once more. Her suspicions were confirmed as she looked the girl over. Twila wore a simple dark jacket as part of her combat outfit, and running down the back of it was a larger version of the image, unaccompanied by any other design. Jade realized her mistake. _Not a staff… a torch._ Olive, Korvin, and Jetta must all have decided to honor their fallen teammate by adding his identifying emblem to their own. It was a very fitting, and very meaningful, tribute.

The name "Fuchsia Ray" had been called out while Jade was reaching her conclusion, and she started paying attention again—it was RUST's turn now.

Usiku was called next, following the name order that had been established. Finally, Goodwitch called the one name that Jade was waiting for. "Scarletta Torre."

Jade stuck her finger and thumb into her mouth and whistled loudly in support of her friend. A few rows ahead of her, a fiery-haired girl she recognized as Scarletta's twin sister was applauding enthusiastically, while the man seated next to her clapped and stomped his feet. From this angle, Jade couldn't see his face, but she assumed it was the twins' dad.

It was incredibly exciting, seeing the newest batch of Huntsmen receive their licenses. Jade wondered if it would be this exciting for _her_ , next year, or if she'd be too nervous to enjoy herself.

"Tanso Keyes."

Next to Jade, Indie and Aurum both let out loud cheers. Tanso looked their way and gave them a quick thumbs-up, before crossing to the podium like everyone before him.

There was only one more team after RUST, Team Umber. Jade recognized their faces, at this point—she'd been going to school with them for three years now, after all—but she couldn't say she'd ever spoken to any of them.

With all the speeches that had happened earlier, Jade was relieved when Goodwitch pronounced the graduation ceremony over after giving a few more words. She felt her own heart flutter in her chest when a shower of gradation caps flew into the air, tossed there by the newest class of Huntsmen, and she took a short moment to take a mental picture of her team.

 _Next year… it'll be our turn._

 **I cannot believe that I'm now three-quarters of the way finished writing this story. I'm well into drafting the last story arc now, and I'm super excited for y'all to read it, but I'm also a little sad that it'll be ending soon.**

 **Also, I have to apologize for something here. I know that the song It's My Turn was not canonically sung by Weiss, despite being about her/in her voice, but it's one of my absolute favorite songs from the entire RWBY soundtrack so far (definitely top three) and I wanted to feature it in this story.**

 **Oh, and has anyone else been having issues with the app being buggy recently? Or is it just me?**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**


	46. Final Countdown

**I only own my original characters that I created for this story. Everything else belongs to the wonderful people at Rooster Teeth.**

 **Final Countdown**

Jade had stayed at Beacon over the break, for a change. Unusual for most academy students, but even more so for someone like her, who hated being stuck in one place for very long, and took every opportunity she could to get out and explore the wide world of Remnant.

The reason for her long stay… well, the flu she'd had right after the semester ended had played a large part in her decision. Aura didn't stop viruses or bacteria from entering a person's system, and although Jade was usually pretty healthy, she was still susceptible to illness now and then. It had been an especially nasty flu, too. She'd spent the better part of two weeks with almost no energy, eating plain toast and noodles, and doing a lot of sleeping.

Once it had finally left her body, she'd still hadn't felt fully recovered. After another week of taking it easy, she'd braved a little bit of training, and had bounced back fairly quickly after that. By that point, she'd decided that her plans to travel over the break were _not_ happening, despite her itchy feet, and she'd done her best to salvage the time off by taking frequent trips into Vale to do some preliminary motorcycle shopping, checking prices and comparing models.

Still… she was immensely relieved that now her teammates were coming back. It had been dead boring at Beacon without them—her mom was staying on campus for the time being, but Yang had taken a bunch of missions that took her away from the school for almost as much time as she spent there. Indie had been on an ocean cruise with her family for two weeks, followed by spending some time in Atlas and Vacuo. The world traveling had been borne out of Ruby and Ilia's desire to show Lizi and Mo some of the world before Mo started at Signal this year. Skye had gone home to Atlas, spending the break at the main SDC corporate office learning how to run things. Aurum had gone to Vacuo with Pitch, letting her girlfriend show her around the desert kingdom, which doubled as an opportunity to drop in on Pitch's family.

"… I loved the city of Vacuo! It's an entire city, just… rising above the desert like a mirage!"

Well, Aurum was back. Jade sat up on her bed, looking up from her comic book. "Yeah, Vacuo City is nice. As long as you always remember to watch your back."

Aurum stuck her tongue out. "Where's the fun in that?" Pitch nodded in agreement from her place just outside the door.

"I would think watching your back would be more fun than finding a knife sticking out of it," Jade retorted. "Literally." She shook her head. "I've been to Vacuo more than once—the outer settlements, not just Shade Academy. And it's definitely not someplace I'd ever wanna go unarmed."

She semi-hoped Pitch would ask for the story. Jade had been so excited about her first time in outer Vacuo. Sure, the schools in Vacuo City were an impressive sight—Shade Academy was the tallest thing for miles, and the lower school, Shadow Academy, was very appropriately named, as it sat directly behind Shade and spent most of the daylight hours at least partially in the shadow of the pyramid-shaped school. But for Jade, the schools were a distant second to the open expanse of the desert, stretching in every direction as far as the eyes could see. The view had stirred something in her the first time she'd seen it, something she still couldn't explain to this day.

"Meh," Pitch answered, clearly not convinced. Dismissing the debate, the winged Faunus turned and very deliberately kissed Aurum on the lips before waving mockingly at Jade and leaving the room.

Jade was a tiny bit disappointed when Aurum immediately turned around and left the room, with an "I'm heading for the gym!" ringing behind her. She'd rigged a small canister of confetti affixed to her Faunus teammate's bed earlier in preparation for her return, meant to be triggered when it was disturbed. Aurum probably wouldn't be back for a few hours; Jade was going to have to wait to see her prank unfold.

 _Well, it_ _ **is**_ _after six… Dinner's not gonna wait for me_. Jade reluctantly hauled herself up off her bed and meandered across campus to the dining hall. The welcome-back buffet was as fantastic as ever, although the regular fare was nearly as good. There were only a couple dozen people there, most of them younger students—only a few of the fourth years were present. She loaded up on rice, roast beef, and a chef salad, and after taking the time to eat at a more leisurely pace than usual, went to investigate the dessert table.

Unable to choose between the chocolate cake and the lemon tart, Jade ended up taking both. The chocolate cake would make a nice bedtime snack, so she sat back down at her table to savor the fruity confection the same way as she had her dinner.

It was bittersweet, Jade thought suddenly, glancing around the large room. This was the last time she'd be here at Beacon for the welcoming dinner—a year from now, she'd be a fully licensed Huntress, off on who-knew-what crazy adventures, preferably alongside her mom. She watched the doings in the dining hall, more aware of the people around her than she'd been before that revelation.

Kage was eating pizza at a table in the corner, by himself. Jade raised one incredulous eyebrow when she noticed his solitary state. Her wolf Faunus classmate was plenty nice, and he also tended to flirt with everything that moved. He was good-looking enough that he was almost never seen without a cluster of admirers. Not everyone was back yet though, so maybe it was just that his entourage was absent right now.

Saphed and Cerulea were arm-wrestling each other a few tables over from Kage. Jade watched them for a few minutes, idly keeping a tally of how many matches each of them won. Of course, she had no idea how long they'd been at it before she noticed them. In her five minutes of spectating, though, Saphed had won four rounds and Cerulea three, so it seemed safe to guess that the earlier matches had had a similar split.

As much as she might want to, Jade knew she couldn't stay in the dining hall forever. It was quarter to seven when she finally dragged herself out of her seat and back to the dorm, toting her cake at her side.

No sooner had she sat down on her bed than a loud _bang_ sounded and Jade found herself covered in confetti. Growling a curse word under her breath, she swiped the bits of colorful paper out of her face, only to find Aurum laughing her ass off in the bathroom doorway. "Ha!  
You thought I had no idea, but I _totally got you_!" The Faunus started doing a victory dance that Jade suspected was deliberately corny for dramatic effect. _She gets_ _ **that**_ _from her dad…_

"Oh yeah?" Jade challenged, shaking her head and sending a fresh shower of confetti floating to the floor. "Well, let me tell you: it is _on_ , Belladonna!" After a moment, she added, "Also, you're cleaning that up before Skye sees it."

Aurum eyed her. "You will live to regret those words, Xiao Long." With that parting statement, the cat Faunus turned on her heel and closed the bathroom door with a victorious-sounding _click_. A moment later, the shower started running.

Jade wasn't sure which words Aurum was referring to: the declaration of war, or the cleaning part. If it was the first one, she was pretty sure she didn't have anything to worry about. Aurum was all talk. In three years of living together, Aurum had never once tried to take revenge on Jade for one of her numerous pranks. Jade doubted her teammate had the patience to come up with anything good, not to mention stick around to see it through—and really, what was the point of a practical joke if you never got to see the results of your handiwork? No, despite Aurum's vow, Jade was absolutely certain she had nothing to worry about.

xxxxx

Aurum hadn't expected the number of incoming teams to be so small. The number of new students totaled only sixteen, four teams worth. Larger than SAIJ's year, it was true, but Aurum had seen the graduation rosters and knew that the Class of 106 would be the smallest graduating class in three decades, with only three teams. After attending the ceremony and seeing the new students named Team Iron, Team Sable, Team Mulberry, and Team Lime, she was caught completely off guard by Goodwitch cornering her in the hallway and summoning her to the main office.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Aurum looked up at the Headmistress and braced herself. "What—um, what did you want to see me for, ma'am?" Her voice carried an undertone of _Am-I-in-trouble?_ that she wasn't entirely able to conceal, and she was extremely annoyed by it. _Please don't let her have found out about the oatmeal in Jade's shoes…_ Jade had not been happy this morning, when she pulled on her sneakers and found the cold cereal squishing under her feet. It was a childish prank, and Aurum certainly could have tried to come up with something more original, but she hadn't had a lot of time to plan and she was desperate to let Jade know she was serious. She could come up with something more creative next time.

Goodwitch pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and smiled at the Faunus. That was a good sign; Aurum doubted the severe woman would be smiling if she was about to hand out a punishment. "As I am certain you are aware, Miss Belladonna, the Vytal Festival is being held at Haven Academy at the end of this year. As the reigning Tournament Champion, you will have the honor of opening the festivities. Of course, that means you will need to travel to Mistral along with the students from Beacon who are competing."

Aurum nodded—she'd known that she would be opening the tournament, it was tradition, but hadn't realized that the Headmistress would call her into the office to discuss it with her. "I… Do I have to decide right now?"

"No, not yet," Goodwitch answered, before becoming briefly distracted by her scroll giving a soft chime. She frowned down at the device. "I thought I'd silenced that." She jabbed at it with one finger, then set it aside and continued, "My apologies. As I was saying… you will have your choice of how you open the tournament. If you would like to have an actual match, please tell me who you would like to face as soon as possible, if you have a preference, so that I may contact them immediately."

The Headmistress paused a moment, then fixed her green eyes seriously on Aurum. "I must warn you, whoever you choose to compete against is permitted to decline if they wish. Few actually do so, but the possibility is there." She smiled suddenly. "Or, if you would rather put on some kind of choreographed performance and not have to worry about finding a live opponent, let me know what you would like the stadium to look like during that."

After a slight hesitation, Aurum admitted, "I… hadn't really given it any thought, ma'am." She considered a moment; Goodwitch, evidently sensing that she was thinking about it, sat back in her desk chair and didn't interrupt. Finally, Aurum looked back up. "I think I'd like to do something choreographed, not a match, but I don't really know anything beyond that. Could I have some time to think about it?" Before Goodwitch could answer, she added, "And is this supposed to be kept quiet, or can I talk with my team about it?"

"Indeed you can, on both counts," the Headmistress replied, picking up her scroll again. She made a note of something, then went on, "This is why I am asking you now, Miss Belladonna, rather than later in the year. Oftentimes, the reigning champion has not even begun to consider what sort of show they would like to give, and they must be given some small nudge, to ensure that they are giving the matter some thought. You will have several months to make your final decision, and I encourage you to speak with others, not just your teammates."

"I… I will," Aurum answered, much more confident now that her time with the intimidating woman was nearly over. "Was there anything else you needed from me?"

"No, that will be all," Goodwitch answered. "Please remember to tell me of your final decision as soon as you make it, but for now… You may go."

Aurum nodded to the Headmistress in thanks, then stood to leave the room, her mind already spinning with possibilities. There would be no end of things she could do to show herself off, more so than in the tournament itself… and she wasn't about to let an opportunity like that slip by her.

xxxxx

Indie tapped away at her scroll, finishing up the article she was reading—some new theory on why different variations of Grimm existed. She'd selected the article out of boredom, but had gotten sucked in quickly. It had started off fairly basic, comparing an Ursa to an Ursa Major, and she'd expected it to be nothing she hadn't seen before, but then it had veered off into theorizing that the Wyvern that had been released during the Fall of Beacon was related to Creeps. Indie could see the writer's point: both species were reptilian, with two legs, and the Wyvern's size meant it had been alive for hundreds if not thousands of years. Even though it had lain dormant for most of that time, it was entirely plausible that it could have mutated in that time, resulting in it growing a pair of wings.

This was her substitute for Grimm Studies classes. Fourth year students at Beacon were finished with the academic portion of their education, and free to take missions as they pleased without having to worry about classes or homework. In theory, this worked well, the level of risk the students were exposed to increasing along with their combat experience while the time spent doing classroom work decreased year by year. But Indie thrived on learning new things, and her brain soaked up new knowledge like a sponge; she had been incredibly bored the first couple days into the semester with nothing to stimulate her mind, until this idea had popped into her brain.

Saving the article to a folder she'd recently created, titled "Grimm"—she had several more new folders: "Dust," "Academies," and "Weapons" among them—she opened up her Contacts list. Her finger hovered over the icon labeled "Savu Knight." Calling him over the break had been very tempting, but she'd resisted. Her parents were taking her, along with her brother and sister, to see a little bit more of the world, and she'd felt like she should be focusing on _them_ for the time being.

Her parents knew that she'd made contact with her birth father. She'd come clean to them a few days into their cruise, along with the fact that her birth mother had passed away when Indie had only been a baby, and that had been what prompted her father to give her up for adoption. Her parents had been a little bit upset at that, until Indie added that losing his wife had thrown Savu into a deep depression, and he hadn't been able to properly care for his daughter. He'd brought her to the orphanage, trusting that she'd be given a better life there and hoping that she'd be adopted by a kind family before too long.

Both of her parents had hugged her fiercely at that admission, with tears in their eyes. Indie belatedly remembered that both of her parents had lost family at young ages, Summer Rose having vanished when Ruby was a toddler, and Jinjer and Opal Amitola losing their lives in a Dust mine accident when Ilia had been eleven. No wonder they wanted to hold onto her.

Indie's scroll buzzed in her hand, drawing her back to the present with a slight start. A quick glance down at the device proved that it wasn't anything important, just a school-wide email about litter on campus, but it was enough to snap her out of her reverie.

A moment later, it buzzed again. Expecting another email, Indie was pleasantly surprised to see a text from Marron. He'd sent her a message asking if she wanted to go on a date this weekend, adding that it felt like it had been months since he'd last seen her. It had really only been a few weeks, but Indie smiled and sent him a message in reply, saying that yes, she'd love to.

Her heart a bit lighter, she set her scroll aside. No, she wasn't going to call Savu right now. He was probably still at work anyway, and wouldn't be able to answer. School was back in session now, after all, and she needed to respect that. But maybe… maybe there could be another way for her to get to know him better. Without warning, her mind drifted to something that she'd been thinking about more and more in the last couple of weeks.

Indie had regretted not being able to stay in Northingham for more than a few days, but her team had been there for a mission. It had been strictly business. But… they only had one year left before they graduated and became full-fledged Huntresses. Then each of them would be able to take any mission they wanted, without the need for agreement from the rest of their team.

Speaking of the rest of her team…

"Hey!" Aurum burst into the room, bouncing on her toes in the doorway. Indie half turned in her chair, giving her partner her full attention. If nothing else, it would be a good distraction for a few minutes.

"Yes?"

Aurum stopped bouncing, though the excitement on her face remained. "You know how I met with Goodwitch the other day, to talk about the opening ceremonies for the tournament?"

"Yeah, I remember." It had only been a few days ago. The rest of them had been back in their room after the team ceremony, and Skye had just wondered aloud what was taking Aurum so long, when the door had clicked open and the aforementioned teammate had appeared.

Aurum hadn't wasted any time—she'd laid out her dilemma for her teammates, and they had immediately agreed to try and come up with ideas. At one point, Aurum had mentioned the possibility of having _all_ of them perform. Jade had leaned forward excitedly at that suggestion, only to slump backwards when Skye pointed out that they didn't know if that would be allowed.

Regardless, the entirety of SAIJ was on board with the plan, if it ended up being possible. Aurum had suggested they give it a week, and then she'd go back to the Headmistress. But now it seemed like maybe she had something else in mind.

"So… what about it?" Indie prodded, when her acknowledgement of the event elicited no response.

"Oh!" Aurum snapped back to reality. "I had an idea!"

Indie held up one hand. "Stop."

Aurum closed her mouth, giving her partner a quizzical look.

"I think," Indie continued, "that you should wait to tell me your idea until the rest of the team is here."

Her Faunus teammate seemed to deflate, then groaned and swung up onto her bunk. "Oh, _fine_. I'll wait. But I'll tell you now… I think it's got real potential."

"I'm sure it does." Indie didn't doubt that; when it came to performing, Aurum didn't do things halfway. But if her idea was a little _too_ out there—or a lot—Indie didn't trust herself to be able to break the news. Skye and Jade would be better for that, and so Indie quickly busied herself with a comic book, hopeful that her remaining teammates would return before too long.

xxxxx

Skye held her saber steady, focusing all her attention on the glyph that was slowly but steadily forming in front of her. This could not be rushed.

"You got this!"

Her concentration broken, Skye turned and glared at Aurum, who was taking a water break. Her teammate was holding her canteen at her side, one arm pumped into the air enthusiastically. Jade was seated off to the side, sipping from her own water bottle and watching the exchange with an amused expression.

"Really, Aurum?" Skye demanded. "This is so not the time for that."

"It's always the right time for words of encouragement!" Aurum declared, fisting her hands on her hips dramatically. The effect was somewhat ruined when she lost hold of the metal canteen and it fell on the ground with a loud _clang_.

Skye raised a single, skeptical eyebrow at her teammate's over-the-top antics, before turning to Jade for support. Her partner only grinned in a _you're-on-your-own_ way and leaned back in her seat.

"I need to _concentrate_ ," Skye insisted, turning her back on her teammates and trying very hard not to roll her eyes at them. She needed to be as centered as possible while attempting to form her glyph once more.

Her time at home over the vacation had been primarily taken up with business meetings, with the occasional practice session against her mom. Weiss had been relentlessly testing her daughter's mastery of time dilation, and Skye had had time for little else.

Today, she was trying something new. It wasn't working out very well, so far.

What had she done, the first time she'd summoned her Alpha Beowolf? That had been easy. Schnees could summon fallen foes that had pushed them to their limits and beyond, strengthening then, changing them, honing them into the warriors they were meant to be. That Alpha had been her first time facing anything besides a run-of-the-mill Grimm. Winter had decided that it was time her niece learned to handle tougher opponents, and had brought the Alpha along in a cage for Skye to face.

It had not gone well. Skye, used to the reckless charging of ordinary Beowolves, had been unprepared for the beast to make a calculated attack and had found herself, without aura, clamped in its massive jaws. She still didn't know how she'd managed to kill it. The scars she bore from the thing's teeth, that ran from the lower half of her rib cage to down below her hip, served as a permanent reminder to never, _ever_ again, underestimate her opponent.

Miraculously, she hadn't suffered any damage to her vital organs, but Skye had never seen her mother so furious with Winter, before or since.

Summoning the thing afterwards had been ridiculously easy, compared to the fight itself. Skye had fixed a picture of the giant wolf in her head, remembered how it had felt to be trapped in its mouth, and had managed to call it forth on only her third attempt. Weiss, standing by, had been exceedingly proud of her daughter, but admitted a little later that she was a bit jealous of how easy Skye had made it look.

 _One more time_. Skye closed her eyes, drew in a deep, slow breath and pictured the creature in her mind's eye. A moment later, she opened her eyes again, thrusting her sword point to the now-spinning glyph on the ground.

Not for the first time, Skye was incredibly grateful for her hereditary semblance. While many people had similar abilities, being able to learn from somebody close to you, who had the exact same power, was undeniably a huge advantage in mastering it. She'd had her mother, and occasionally Winter, watch her practice, give her advice, and now and then demonstrate themselves the exact technique for a certain part of their semblance.

She held her breath in anticipation, her gaze fastened on the snowy white shape in front of her that was slowly but surely growing larger. She nearly collapsed in excited triumph as the head of the King Scavenger she'd defeated in Northingham slowly emerged from its center. Just the head, but it was clearly a rat, not a wolf, and if she could summon the head, then she could summon the rest of it.

 _I… I did it!_

A loud shriek of excitement from behind caused Skye to lose her focus again, and the rat's head evaporated in a shower of shimmering flakes of light. _No, not again!_ Turning back around, she narrowed her eyes at Indie, who was looking sheepish.

"I… sorry."

Skye felt her temper flare, but took a deep breath and firmly pushed it back down. "It's… all right. At least now I know I _can_ summon the ugly rat. Knowing I can do it is half the battle." She lowered her sword. "Actually… I think I've had enough for one day. Summoning is seriously draining. Who's next?" Technically, it wasn't the act of summoning that was so tiring, but the intense concentration and willpower required to call it forth would continue to mentally exhaust her until she mastered it.

"Not yet!" Indie protested. "You've only given it two tries; you can't give up now! Come on, you know you can actually summon it, so wouldn't it be easier if you tried again now?"

Skye raised one eyebrow, mildly impressed with her hooded teammate. Indie had gotten a _lot_ more confident about speaking her mind since they had all started at Beacon. Three years ago, a single sharp look from Skye would have been enough to send the girl cowering behind her bow.

Skye knew she was intimidating. The icy coloring shared by all the Schnee women and the glare that Weiss had given people so often that Skye had perfected it in the mirror by the age of ten, combined with her fighting skill, made most people cringe in fear when she spoke to them. Her last name didn't help matters either. Indie was a bit of a special case, since she'd known Skye nearly her whole life, but she was socially awkward and hated conflict. The fact that she was able to refute something from her team leader said a lot about her growth.

"Fine," Skye relented. "One more. Just because you asked me to."

Indie grinned at her. Skye took her stance once more, visualizing the giant rat in her mind.

 _Opponents that have forced us beyond our limits… that have formed us into the warriors we are now…_

She had it, she was _sure_ she had it… Skye opened her eyes, finding the unique summoning glyph pulsating and glowing before her. She tightened her fingers on her sword hilt in concentration, her fingernails digging into her palm, as the rat's head emerged once again from the glyph's center.

It formed slowly, so slowly, that Skye was afraid to blink. The rat's neck came into being, inch by inch, followed by its forelegs.

 _Ah!_

Her fingers suddenly cramped painfully; Skye let out an involuntary yell as her sword clattered to the ground. The Scavenger flaked away into nothingness.

Skye frantically massaged her hand, mentally cursing herself. She had been _so close_ , only to be bested by something as mundane as her hand cramping up! Of all the irritating things to happen…

"Are you all right?!"

The sound of her partner's worried voice snapped her out of her mental self-berating. Jade hovered over her, a clear expression of concern etched on her face. Skye blinked. Jade was taller than she was, but only by nine inches. It wasn't _that_ dramatic a difference. Why was she having to crane her neck to meet her partner's eyes?

It wasn't until she registered the gravel digging into her legs that Skye realized the answer to that question. She must have fallen to the ground, without realizing, and been so distracted with by her hand cramping up that she hadn't registered it. Now Jade was standing over her.

"Yeah, I'm… fine," Skye answered finally, noticing Aurum and Indie hovering off to the side, identical worried expressions on their faces. "But I'm _definitely_ finished practicing now; I can barely hold my sword. Who's up next?"

Indie quickly took the arena, with Jade as her opponent and Aurum giving her pointers from the sidelines. Skye settled down on the barricade, still massaging her sore hand.

 _I'll get it next time. I'll keep practicing, and I'll get it next time_ …

 **This was a difficult chapter to write. Since there's really nothing plot-relevant happening, it's mostly filler, although I did try to work in some hints for what's to come later. Kind of hard to believe that I'm in the home stretch now.**

 **Please leave a review, I know it's not a super exciting chapter but it makes me happy knowing people are still enjoying!**


	47. Requests

**Well, I've had a semi-productive couple weeks. Made myself an AO3 account last week, although I'm not sure if I'm gonna start cross-posting just yet. Also had to deal with the government nonstop the last few days. Long story short, they're trying to get out of paying me my unemployment insurance… since I didn't file taxes for this job last year, they're claiming not to believe I've been working there (because how** _ **dare**_ **I take a new job the first semester I'm not attending classes full time). Still waiting to see how that plays out.**

 **I don't own anything you recognize from RWBY.**

 **Requests**

Aurum knocked on the door of the Headmistress's office. When she heard a loud "Come in!" she turned the knob and entered. The Headmistress turned away from her computer and looked at Aurum over the top of her glasses. "Yes, Miss Belladonna? What may I do for you?" Gesturing to the chair placed in front of her desk, she added, "Please, have a seat."

Very hesitantly, Aurum did so, trying to keep her breathing steady. She was more than a little nervous at being in the Headmistress's office for the second time in the few weeks since the semester had begun, and the unorthodox reason she was there wasn't helping. "I… I've been thinking about what kind of performance I want to give at the tournament."

"Ah." Goodwitch pushed herself back in her chair, giving Aurum her full attention. "And have you come to a decision? Any questions you have could be answered through email, so I presume you're here for something else."

"I… yes, I've made my decision." Aurum squared her shoulders in determination, then continued, "But… I have two requests for it, things I need to make sure of before I go any farther in the planning stage."

"And those are?" the Headmistress inquired.

Aurum tried her best to keep her voice from shaking. "First, I want to put on a performance with the rest of my team. I never would have gotten to where I am today without them." She stopped short.

"Done," Goodwitch answered immediately, looking down at scroll for a brief moment to make a note, before setting it aside and looking at Aurum once more. She didn't look surprised by the request; Aurum wondered if she'd been expecting this from her, or if the Headmistress was simply so good at concealing her true feelings around her students that this expression was second nature. Still, she'd approved Aurum's request, which was a good sign. "You are hardly the first to want to perform with your team; I highly doubt you will be the last. Have you already spoken with them about this?"

Aurum nodded. "I did. They're all on board with it. That means we can go ahead with our planning, right?"

"Indeed you can. I will make a note of it." Goodwitch tapped something else into her scroll without bothering to pick it up. "And what was your second request?"

This was going to be the difficult part. Aurum had been almost certain she remembered other Tournament Champions opening the festival along with their teammates; she hadn't envisioned having any trouble with that… but now she was venturing into uncharted territory. Still, she gathered up her courage and, taking a deep breath, told the woman her plan.

Goodwitch didn't say anything for a long moment, seeming to think it over. Aurum held her breath, afraid to move for fear of negatively affecting the Headmistress's decision. While the responsibility of choosing how to open the tournament technically fell upon the person doing the performance, certain officials—including academy heads—also had the power to veto any proposals put to them. Goodwitch finally leaned back in her chair and gave a tiny smile. "Oh, I _do_ like that."

Aurum couldn't help the startled expression she was sure was showing on her face. She had always gotten the impression that the severe Headmistress didn't care much for Team SAIJ (which she'd assumed was due to negative associations with Team RWBY, since the whole eavesdropping scandal had only been last year and Goodwitch had seemed to have issues with them since the start), and she certainly hadn't expected that reaction from the woman. "So… you'll do it?"

Her smile broadening just the tiniest bit, Goodwitch turned back to her desktop monitor and opened up a blank email. "I will have to make some inquiries, of course, but I don't think you will have any problem with getting it to happen."

"Th-thank you!" Aurum stammered out. "This… this will be perfect!"

"Yes, it will certainly be a spectacular sight," Goodwitch agreed. "Now, did you have anything else you needed to speak with me about? Questions, concerns, anything at all?"

Aurum shook her head. "No, that… that was all."

"Well. Then I will turn you loose to begin your planning. Please have a good day." The Headmistress gave Aurum one last approving smile before beginning to type her email.

That was a dismissal if Aurum had ever heard one. She stood and left the office as Goodwitch pounded away at her keyboard, still somewhat in shock. _She liked my idea! She really liked it!_ The rest of her team was already on board, so now all they had to do was start planning.

xxxxx

Jade let her eyes rove back and forth on the mission board, trying to search methodically without getting distracted by her teammates.

Aurum pointed at one. "An Escort mission to the southwest… that looks good."

Skye tapped at the listing to pull up details. "A trading caravan is going to Farley and they want protection from Grimm as they travel. Risk level: moderate." She bit her lip, considering. "Farley's only a three-day trip from Vale on foot. We could be back here within the week."

Jade shook her head. "No, it'd be a three-day trip on foot for _us_. A big caravan moves slower, since there's so many people and wagons. Oh, and for the record, trading caravan wagons aren't usually motorized, so they move a lot slower anyway. A few are, but they still don't go very fast. I doubt we could move any more than…" She tilted her head, doing some quick mental math. "…eight or ten miles in a day, depending on the terrain and the size of the caravan. It would take us at least five days to get there even at the fastest speed."

Indie nodded. "Farley is over fifty miles outside Vale, and we might need to escort them back, too." She leaned in a bit closer and squinted at the listing. "It doesn't say it's round trip, but people forget to fill that out a lot. They'll probably need us for the return trip, too."

Skye reached for the holographic screen, then hesitated, her finger still poised to tap Accept. "So… are we taking it?"

A round of nods from her teammates answered her question. Skye jabbed at the screen, then typed in _SAIJ_ when prompted to enter team name. Another bubble popped up on the screen, listing a location near the southern entrance gate to Vale. "Looks like that's our meeting place. Outside of…" Skye squinted at the tiny words. "… Bargain Village?" She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "That sounds so crass."

"Hey, not everybody grows up getting their clothing tailored perfectly to them," Jade defended the masses. "I've bought plenty of stuff at Bargain Village over the years."

"Okay…" Aurum pointed at the screen again. "But they want us there first thing tomorrow morning, not today. Would it be… out of the question for us to stay here tonight?"

Skye shook her head at the same moment that Jade nodded. Skye frowned at her partner. "It's better to be there early, so we don't waste any time by making them wait for us."

"And we won't," Jade answered. She tapped at the edge of the screen; since it was a hologram and she wasn't touching anything that could be triggered by her touch, her hand passed right through it. "They want us there at seven-thirty. The buses start running at five, and there's no way it'll take more than fifteen minutes to get there, so if we get up at six, that leaves plenty of time to eat a good breakfast before we get on the seven o'clock shuttle into Vale. Especially since we're already packed. Although we should probably toss some extra food in our packs in case we're expected to feed ourselves." She leaned back on her heels, satisfied with her logic.

Her team leader still looked uncertain, but a moment later nodded, bowing to Jade's experience.

With nothing else to do, the team returned to their room to pack some food.

Jade felt like she'd barely closed her eyes when her alarm went off. Groaning, she reached for her scroll and silenced the harsh sound. Another alarm went off a second later, followed by the other two; it seemed that none of her teammates were chancing oversleeping.

It was only six-fifteen when they all piled out of their room, dressed, armed, packed, and ready for food. The dining hall served a continental breakfast starting at five-thirty every day except Monday, for students who were leaving for early-morning missions, and today was no exception. Aurum nearly drooled at seeing the array of pastries, while Indie went straight for the coffee machine.

Jade tossed back two bagels with cream cheese and a blueberry muffin, then tucked two more bagels into her bag for later and headed for the coffee. The rest of her teammates were also squirreling away food, and it wasn't long before they were all clustered around the shuttle stop, caffeinated beverages in hand.

The bus was right on time, and traffic was light this time of day so close to Beacon. The location listed in the mission description was along the main route it usually took, and so the team was deposited right outside the store with ten minutes to spare.

It was immediately obvious that they were in the right place, and not just to Jade, either. The half dozen wagons parked in the far corner of the parking lot were bustling with activity. A small blur shot away from one of the wagons. Indie groaned a moment later as it tackled her. Jade couldn't help giggling at her teammate's comical surprise.

"Ivy?"

Jade took a second look at the girl. Yes, it was definitely the same child they'd rescued from a tree last year. She was taller now, and had dyed some vibrant blue and green streaks into her long brown hair, but it was unmistakably her. So, they'd taken a mission protecting her caravan? It did make sense; Jade could clearly remember Aurum telling Ashe that this was a good use of her money. It seemed Ashe had taken those words to heart.

A minute later, the woman herself emerged from one of the wagons. "Ivy!" she called. "Let the team do their job, please; don't distract them!"

Ivy pouted briefly, but pulled away from Indie as she was told.

Jade started checking with the caravan leaders, trying to ascertain what the travel plan was. She was pleasantly surprised by the revelation that all of the caravan's vehicles were motorized, though as she'd expected, they weren't very powerful motors and couldn't manage speeds much higher than the average farm tractor. Still, that would improve their time getting to Farley, since not only could the vehicles travel a little faster across the rugged terrain, but without pack animals to care for, they could continue moving a little later in the day before setting up camp for the night.

This caravan was about the same size as the ones Jade had gone along with in the past, and she was very impressed with how quickly they were able to mobilize. _Everyone here must've been working together for a_ _ **long**_ _time_ … The more people there were, the longer it usually took to move out, but this group was a well-oiled machine… unlike their wagons.

Before Jade knew it, they were standing by the southern gate of Vale, waiting as it ever so slowly creaked open, before it finally settled into its fully open position with a low, echoing _boom_.

 _Here we go…_

xxxxx

The caravan had only been on the road for about an hour when Indie found herself approached by Ashe. The older woman looked hesitant, but finally asked, "Do you… have a moment?"

"Ah… I guess so," Indie answered, looking around for Ivy. The younger girl had been following her around like a puppy since they'd met with the caravan this morning, and Indie had started to feel a personal responsibility toward her, trying to keep tabs on her location at all times. Her eyes finally landed on the twelve-year-old, seated atop one of the wagons.

While Jade had already pointed out that non-motorized wagons moved slowly and they should be grateful that these were motorized, the caravan still didn't move very fast and a person walking alongside the train could easily keep pace. There were many people who chose to walk rather than being crammed into the wagon until it was their turn to drive, and sometimes they would sit on top of the wagons, outside, as Ivy was doing now.

"What was it you wanted?" Indie asked, returning her attention to Ashe.

The woman looked around for a moment, then began speaking in a low tone. "My Ivy has decided she wants to be a Huntress. Ever since last year when she met you, it's been all she talks about." Her shoulders slumped. "But… I'll never be able to afford Flare Academy's tuition." She let out a long breath. "I wanted to ask if you know of any tuition assistance programs for combat schools. Scholarships, aid, anything really, if it means she can attend."

Indie took a moment to absorb that, then asked, "So it is… just a matter of finances?" When Ashe looked puzzled, she clarified, "You're not opposed to the idea of Ivy training with weapons and facing Grimm and possibly getting hurt?"

"Oh. Well, I'm certainly not _happy_ about it…" Ashe replied, "but Ivy is very determined, and I can tell she's serious about wanting this."

"That's an easy enough answer, then. I can sponsor her training."

Indie had been aware of Skye walking a few steps behind her, but Ashe jumped and spun around, startled, although Indie wasn't sure if it was from her sudden awareness of Skye's presence, or the heiress's casual offer, or both. "What did you say?!" Whatever Ashe had been expecting to get out of this line of questioning, it clearly hadn't been that.

"I said, I'll sponsor Ivy's training," Skye repeated calmly. "I'll pay for her tuition at whatever primary combat school she decides to attend, it doesn't even have to be Flare. They're all good, it hardly matters which one she chooses."

"You… do you mean it?" Ashe inquired. Her tone was polite, but it sounded a little strained, as though she was holding in excitement, and there was a glimmer of hope in her blue eyes.

"Of course," Skye answered, unblinking. "What's the point of having money if I can't use it to do nice things for my friends?"

"I… I don't know what to say," Ashe began hedging. She looked as though she had just remembered that the short, slightly built young woman who had so casually offered to pay her niece's combat school tuition was in fact wealthier than ninety-nine percent of Remnant.

Skye shrugged. "Don't say anything, then. Does Ivy have her aura unlocked?"

Ashe shook her head.

"Has she made any sort of decision about what weapon she might want to specialize in?"

Ashe only shook her head again. Skye nodded decisively. "Then that's where we'll start. The four of us have a pretty wide assortment of weapons, so she can start to get an idea of what she wants just by working with us, and once we get to Farley one of us can unlock her aura."

A yell from the other side of the long train of vehicles had Skye leaping into the air and using her glyphs to speedily hop over the wagon nearby to investigate the disturbance. Ashe returned to walking beside her own wagon while Indie stared after her team leader for a moment, then shook her head and went back to her lookout position, scanning the forest for any approaching Grimm.

"Hey."

Indie turned around again. It was Ivy this time. She was smiling, but the expression didn't reach her emerald eyes. "I saw you talking to my aunt just now. What did she wanna say?"

"Um…" Indie wasn't sure how much to say. She settled on, "She told me you want to become a Huntress."

"Yeah." Ivy still looked glum. "Except we can't afford it, and she thinks I don't know. I've been asking about scholarships, but nobody seems to know anything…" She trailed off, then sighed.

Indie didn't know what to do. Should she mention Skye's offer? It wasn't unusual for an established Huntsman or Huntress to pay the way for the next generation if a student couldn't do it on their own. Thinking about Citrine, and Zelty—and now that she gave it some thought, she was pretty sure Saphed was also receiving some kind of financial assistance—but Skye had only _just_ said it and Indie didn't want to get Ivy's hopes up in case it fell through.

Ivy hadn't said anything else, apparently content to continue along beside Indie in silence. Indie subtly looked the girl over. Ivy was noticeably taller than she had been last year, less because of whatever growth spurt she might be in the middle of than from her change in bearing. She'd been just a kid when Indie first met her, but now… Ivy was holding herself taller, walking more purposefully, and trying to be aware of her surroundings. She was growing up.

"Tell you what."

Ivy glanced over at Indie.

"Later, when we stop for the night, I'll show you some basic exercises to work on, okay? Easy ones to start with, so you can start building up some muscle."

Ivy glanced critically down at her arms, possibly judging herself for how skinny they were. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing—there was more to being a Huntress than brute strength, as Skye's agility-based fighting style or Indie's preference for evasive techniques proved—but it wouldn't hurt for Ivy to start her training by giving her body a good workout. It would also help to get used to the strenuous tasks that all Huntsmen demanded of their bodies.

Lunch was eaten while traveling, and the group didn't stop until almost nightfall. Indie immediately sought out Ivy for some training. She'd carefully holstered Crescent Ranger for the activity, reasoning that the younger girl didn't have aura and that basic exercises like push-ups would be more useful than starting with live weapons at this point.

Ivy could only complete three of the difficult exercises before her arms gave out and she flopped onto the ground on her stomach. She scowled, though Indie got the sense that Ivy's displeasure was targeted more on her own lack of fitness than toward Indie herself.

She helped Ivy back up onto her feet, and helped her brush the dirt off. Jade came up behind them, looking annoyed at being shooed away from the dinner setup. "Not bad for your first try."

"Really?" Ivy looked hopeful.

Jade nodded. "I'll help out tonight, and we can do this every night we're with you." She brightened; Indie could practically _see_ the lightbulb coming on over her cousin's head. "And who says training has to be limited to evenings, anyway? Come see one of us tomorrow right after we get on the road, and we'll give you some other things you can do while we're on the move."

Indie broke in, smiling widely. "We can even bring Skye and Aurum in on it. The four of us have very different weapons and fighting styles from each other, so that can give you a place to start in choosing your weapon specialty."

Ivy lit up at the prospect, but before they could get any farther into their workout or their discussion, a shout came from the meal area. "Dinner's ready, come and get it!"

xxxxx

Skye was happy to get in on showing Ivy some tricks to up her fitness level. She'd wanted to see the girl's attempts for herself to determine whether or not Ivy was serious about becoming a Huntress. But Ivy's dedication to her chosen path was clear, and she had already proved to be an eager student. Skye felt confident she'd made the right choice in offering to cover Ivy's tuition after watching a single training session.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last. The caravan had arrived in Farley last night, and the adults were now setting up for a market day while SAIJ and Ivy ate their breakfast in a small restaurant. Skye was turning to ask Jade to pass the salt, when Indie let out a yell and starting guzzling her water, fanning her mouth frantically. She was finally able to gasp out, "Who… put hot sauce… on my pancakes?!"

"Shit," Jade muttered. "I thought those were Aurum's pancakes. Uh… oops?"

Skye could only shake her head as her partner offered Indie a weak grin. Indie pointed her fork menacingly across the table in response. "This means _war_." Indie punctuated her words by reaching over and swapping Jade's dish with her own, forcing the green-haired fighter to eat the spicy confection herself.

Rolling her eyes, Skye returned to her meal. She had certainly been aware of the pranks that Aurum and Jade had been pulling on each other since the beginning of the semester. Once or twice, she'd debated about whether or not she should step in and end it, but nobody was getting hurt and it seemed like they were having fun, so what harm could there be in letting it continue? As long as they left her out of it, she didn't really care that much, and it _had_ been a little funny hearing Jade squawk at finding a fake spider in her dresser the other day.

Still, this wasn't the time. Skye applied a small amount of salt from the shaker to the potato-egg-and-bacon scramble on her plate. Taking a bite and deeming it excellent, she finished chewing and turned to Ivy. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Ivy bounced up and down in her seat for a moment before returning to her waffles.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jade questioned.

"Excuse me?" Skye wasn't sure what her partner meant.

Jade shrugged one shoulder. "I dunno… I guess… I feel like it deserves a bit more ceremony, y'know?"

"Jade." Aurum rolled her eyes. "You're unlocking an aura, it's not like you're getting married or anything."

Listening to her teammates bicker, Skye rolled her eyes. Why couldn't they knock it off so she could eat her breakfast in peace? It was too early for this. She was already suffering from caffeine withdrawal, and their attitudes were grating on her. The tea in front of her could unfortunately only help with one of those problems.

"Skye?"

"Hmm?" Skye looked up from her plate at the sound of her name to find Ivy watching her. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Can you just do it now? So they'll stop?"

Skye had to resist cracking a smile. So Ivy was as fed up with hearing them snipe at each other as Skye herself was, huh? Well, she wasn't about to argue, despite the fact that she doubted it would make them stop.

Laying one hand on Ivy's shoulder, Skye closed her eyes and directed her aura toward the younger girl. Reaching out, she tried to picture that little spark inside the girl, the tiny piece of life that made her _Ivy_.

There was a reason the act of activating a person's aura for the first time was called "unlocking"; when Skye found what she'd been reaching for, the rest was as simple as turning a key. She felt the sudden sharp dip in her own aura—that meant it had worked. She opened her eyes to find herself shrouded in bright, pale blue, while Ivy was covered in an equally bright mist of sapphire.

Skye kept her triumphant smile to a minimum, but she couldn't help feeling proud of herself. She'd never unlocked someone's aura before, and had been a little unsure if she could do it. Clearly, she didn't need to have worried. She absently noted that Ivy's aura was the same color as the blue highlights in the girl's hair. Pretty… had Ivy known about her aura color already?

If Ivy's reaction was any indication, she felt the difference right away. She opened her eyes only a beat after Skye did, and stared down at her glowing hands. "Whoa…" She turned her hands over, examining them with wide eyes, then let a goofy grin escape, muttering, "Cool." Skye suddenly remembered how it felt, to suddenly gain a new sense. It could be a bit disorienting. That had been one of the reasons why they'd chosen to wait until reaching Farley to try unlocking Ivy's aura; the caravan was staying here for a week until they moved on to their next location, which would give Ivy time to adjust in a relatively safe environment.

"What did you just do?"

Skye had gone back to her meal with new relish, wanting her somewhat depleted aura to be fully restored before her team had to leave, and knowing food would help. Plus, she was still hungry. She glanced back up for a minute to find Aurum staring between her and the still-glowing Ivy. Skye didn't answer the question; it was obvious what she'd just done, and her teammates had _finally_ stopped bickering.

Luckily, Indie stepped in before her partner could say or do anything she might regret later, pushing Aurum's mostly-eaten plate of pancakes a little closer to the Faunus. "Finish your breakfast, Aurum, we need to be leaving soon. That goes for you, too," she added, glancing at Jade, who seemed understandably reluctant to touch the pancakes-with-a-kick in front of her. "Obviously, Skye just unlocked Ivy's aura. Which needed to happen and now it's done, so yay, we can move on to other things, like…" Indie leaned forward, grinning. "What weapon you're gonna choose."

"Swords are about as basic as it gets," Skye added, motioning to Gladiola and hoping that talk of weapons would be enough to distract her team. With this group, it was a pretty safe bet, but not a guarantee. "The upside to having a more common weapon is that it's a lot easier to find schematics and parts to build it, and it's easier to maintain too."

"Don't forget a gun function," Jade cautioned. "Having both ranged and melee attacks can save your life in a battle."

Ivy snatched up a napkin from the rack and began scribbling on it with a pen she'd picked up somewhere. "I was thinking about…

"Ivy! There you are."

The group turned around nearly as one, finding Ashe standing in the doorway of the restaurant. She strode over to them. "I thought you'd be in the other restaurant, the one a couple blocks over. I had to ask if there was a different one when I couldn't find you there." Ashe skimmed over one of the menus. "Mmm… apple cinnamon pancakes… That sounds delicious. Now I wish I hadn't already eaten." She set the menu aside and squeezed into the booth across from Ivy. "You're glowing, sweetheart." She stated the words as though her niece glowing was no more unusual than paying for a cup of coffee; Skye guessed the older woman had seen much stranger things in her life. "So, you'll be leaving us today, then?"

"Yep!" Aurum spoke up before Skye could register that the words had been meant for her team and not for Ivy.

"That's a shame, I was enjoying having you around." Ashe propped her head on one hand, smiling. "Well, I'll see if the Huntress who's taking over our escort after the market can show Ivy anything."

"You're moving on to Summerton after this, right?" Skye asked.

Ashe nodded. "Yes, it's nearly time for the spring fair, their first big event of the year. Many traders come from overland, and they can't get there once there's thick snow on the ground." She looked down at her scroll. "Ivy, will you go and retrieve my notebook from the trailer?"

"Okay!" Ivy jumped out of her seat, vanishing out the front door.

Ashe leaned forward in her seat. "I know you need to be getting on the road very shortly, so I won't keep you waiting, but… I don't know how I'll ever repay you for everything you've done."

"We're just doing our jobs," Skye answered.

"No." Ashe shook her head, a small smile on her face. "This is so much more than that. Nowhere in your job description does it say you need to work with a young girl, start her training, unlock her aura… pay her academy tuition… You've given her things she can do to keep improving her fitness once you leave us today. None of you had to do any of that; you could have told her 'Good luck' and left it at that."

Skye traded glances with her teammates, before replying simply, "No. We couldn't."

 **This chapter, along with the next few, had to be rewritten almost completely from scratch after I realized my error. Groan… On the other hand, it's so much better than what I started with, so I guess I can't really complain all that much about having to redo it.**

 **Please leave me a review!**


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